Should I sync up the Google Chrome browser with my Google account?

Every time I log in to my Google account, I am asked to do this. One advantage is that I would only have to sign in once to have access to all the Google services: Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, Google+, and all the others. Another advantage is to have my bookmarks follow me from computer to computer.

This seems like a great idea, and I started to look into it. However, one of the first things I saw when I started reading about this is a big warning from Google:

Don’t sign in to Chrome if you’re using a public or untrusted computer. When you set up Chrome with your Google Account, a copy of your data is stored on the computer you’re using and can be accessed by other people using the same computer. To remove your data, delete the user you are signed in as.

This warning confuses me because the whole reason I would connect Chrome and my Google account is so that I COULD use a public computer (ie, in an Internet cafe) and still have access to my bookmarks. I’m wondering if this warning is a serious one or just a standard disclaimer kind of thing. The thing is that I sign in to my Google account on public computers all the time, and I do this without much concern. I just make sure to clear my search history along with all the cookies, data, and other things that get recorded and then close the browser window. I use computers in Internet cafes to access my email accounts, photo accounts, and even this blog. I don’t have a choice.

I just don’t know if connecting Chrome with my Google account represents a greater danger. It does seem different because this warning states that I have to delete the user I am signed in as. I don’t really know what this means. And if it is a complicated step that I have to undertake each time I sign in to Chrome, then it doesn’t really save me any time or make things any more convenient.

So, what to do? To sync or not to sync?

 

 

Tags: Chrome, Google, Google Chrome, Google Drive, sync, user