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Can I connect my Gmail and Facebook accounts?

Kind of a weird request, but I'm wondering if there's a way to minimize my logins when I'm at an Internet Café so that I can log in to one service, like Gmail, and be automatically logged in to Facebook?


Dave's Answer:

Oh boy, I'd be careful with this one, my friend! As soon as I see "Internet Café" and realize that you're talking about using their computer, not your own, I have a vision of black clouds and lightening bolts of danger, keystroke loggers, spyware, and identity theft. To be fair, they're not all like that, but my counsel to you is that you need to be very, very leery of those rows of computers, and even more so in far-flung places as you travel about. With the right kind of malware and such even SSL connections won't protect you. Heck, even using your own computer might not be complete protection from trouble arising, but that's another story.

I was skeptical that there was any way to be automatically logged in to Facebook if you've already logged into your Gmail account, but I figured that it was worth some investigation, and indeed, you're right and there is a way to do just that!

Keeping in mind my earlier caveats about your security and privacy, here's how to set it up...

Log in to your Facebook account and click on "Settings" --> "Account Settings" on the top right. You should end up here:

facebook my account settings

Near the bottom of this page is what we seek:

facebook my account settings linked accounts

Click on the small "change" link and a menu will magically appear:

facebook my account settings linked accounts 2

Choose "Google"...

facebook my account settings linked accounts 3

(aside: isn't it weird to think that you can connect your MySpace and Facebook accounts? Somehow it seems like two incompatible worlds colliding!)

A bit tedious, but now it'll show you "Google" and you still have to take another step:

facebook my account settings linked accounts 4

Yup, that's right, click on the "Link New Account" button.

A new window pops up and asks for permission to link your Google Gmail account to your Facebook account:

facebook my account settings linked accounts google

Looks good? Click on "Allow" and off ya go:

facebook my account settings linked accounts gmail

I'm still not entirely sure this is a good idea but you asked and now you have an answer. Perhaps you (or anyone else who has done this) can share more of why you think this makes sense and isn't a potential risk?



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Comments

The only way I see that this could be a good idea at an Internet Cafe is if you used your own browser from an USB flash drive, like Portable Firefox (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable) If you were able to configure it to automatically log you in to your GMail account (and Facebook using the instructions above) you could actually minimize your exposure, especially to keylogging devices and applications. Just a thought - I certainly haven't tried it myself.

Posted by: Rob Brewer at February 5, 2010 9:31 AM

CHANGE MY BIRTHDAY

Posted by: JANKI at April 30, 2010 5:06 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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