Can I use browser extensions on work computer?

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frenchie1989
frenchie1989
Community Member

I am very confused by the browser extensions. They are very hard to find - barely mentioned on the main page or support pages. I have almost accidentally managed to find links for both Firefox and Chrome, but both installations fail. The intended use seems to be to install from the 1password preferences window, but the whole reason I need the browser extension is that I'm trying to install on my work computer, which is a Linux machine. Does the browser extension only work when tethered to a local vault on the same machine, or is it pulling it's data from the cloud (either iCloud or the Dropbox backup)?

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  • frenchie1989
    frenchie1989
    Community Member
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    Incidentally, this is the Firefox error message

    The address wasn't understood

    Firefox doesn't know how to open this address, because the protocol (onepassword4-extension) isn't associated with any program.

    You might need to install other software to open this address.
    
  • Stephen_C
    Stephen_C
    Community Member
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    You need to have 1Password installed on the machine on which the browser extension is installed in order for the browser extension to have access to the 1Password vault.

    Stephen

  • hawkmoth
    hawkmoth
    Community Member
    edited May 2014
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    And, to complete the thought, there is no version for Linux. You can use 1PasswordAnywhere for read only access through your Linux web browser, if that would help you. If you aren't familiar with that option, there is more information here.

  • frenchie1989
    frenchie1989
    Community Member
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    Yes I was aware of the 1PasswordAnywhere, thanks.

    Isn't it massively limiting to be tethered to the app in this way. Surely the point of these password managers is to be accessible everywhere. This is how Last Pass works anyway.

    Simon

  • hawkmoth
    hawkmoth
    Community Member
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    There is a very, very long thread in the Lounge section of the forum discussing the wish for a Linux version of 1Password. The developers have been responding there. If you're interested and have the stamina, the thread starts here. It began in 2010.

  • frenchie1989
    frenchie1989
    Community Member
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    Well I guess I don't specifically want a Linux version of the app, but this was because I misunderstood the way that it works. I thought the app was merely a nice way to view and edit your vault information, rather than the lynchpin of the whole system, that others read from.

    Essentially, a password manager MUST be accessible in full form from everywhere to be useful. Tethering to an app seems an odd choice to me (and something that others have avoided), but I'm sure there are reasons that I don;t understand.

  • ZamboniMan
    ZamboniMan
    Community Member
    edited May 2014
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    Some of us prefer not relying on a third party to hold sensitive information like LastPass does. I'd rather have more control over where my encrypted data is held than to trust a service like LastPass to protect all of my information. Personal choice.

  • Stephen_C
    Stephen_C
    Community Member
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    I do strongly agree with what @ZamboniMan‌ says. I do not want such sensitive data held by any third party (even to the extent I won't use the cloud to sync).

    Stephen

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
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    Hi @frenchie1989‌

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts here! Unfortunately, as you've already heard, 1Password's browser extensions do require the main app to function. This is because we have designed the extensions themselves to be very minimal: they are responsible only for the actual filling of data on web forms. All of the processing and saving of information is done via 1Password Mini, which is the brain of both the extensions and the main app. We've found that keeping the processing out of the browser allows for a much smoother user experience. So 1PasswordAnywhere is your best option to access your 1Password database via any modern web browser in cases where you do not have the 1Password app installed.

    As @ZamboniMan and @Stephen_C have pointed out, one of the strengths of 1Password is that we allow you to control your data. Your data is not stored on our servers, and you can keep your data completely out of the cloud if you so prefer. We think it is important to provide users with this level of autonomy.

    I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer for you here, but I hope this helps to explain our decisions. Please do let me know if you have any further questions or concerns!

This discussion has been closed.