Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Gmail Locks Out Greasemonkey

Rajat Paharia reports Google locks out users accessing Gmail with a Greasemonkey-enabled browser. With the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox, users can run scripts in the background which change sites to add advanced features the site owner never thought of (and sometimes, never wanted to have). For example, a particular Greasemonkey script displays a “Delete” button for Gmail users. Some Greasemonkey scripts are also disabling advertisement from sites.

Rajat was let back in one hour after Gmail told him he’d be locked out for anything between “1 minute and 24 hours" for “unusual usage” of his account. Google says, “ For your protection, we ask that you disable any non-supported software before accessing Gmail again.”
Rajat says:

“I’m surprised – use GreaseMonkey and Google whacks you. Oh mighty and benevolent Google, can I have my freakin’ email back?”

[Thanks Rachele.]

Update: People in the forum (including GoogleGuy) say it’s not because of Greasemonkey per se, but how this particular Greasemonkey user script behaves; apparently, there’s one situation in which the Gmail server is constantly polled by the script.

Gmail Locks Out Greasemon ... by Philipp Lenssen | Comments (11)

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