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I'm currently job searching, and came across a site that knows when I'm signed into G-mail. A quick look at the login page shows that I can use my Gmail account to login.

Looking at the Google API, it seems they do provide away to access a users inbox with certain examples shown here.

Is there a way to check if these methods and capabilities have been implemented, and if so, how can I minimize the access to my account?

I'm aware I can create an original account on the site, separate from my Gmail account.

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You're perhaps conflating GMail API and Google Auth (which is used by GMail).

The site cannot see whether you're logged in or not (it can be worked out with a bit of trouble), and cannot access your email address, much less your inbox.

You can give Google permission to give the site information about your Google login. At that point the site'll know your email address (but still be unable to access your inbox).

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  • I think you're right I may have been confused, but the API is for applications such as Thunderbird, correct? Where they would accept a password and use Google to authenticate it. – user192946 Dec 10 '18 at 16:36
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    @BasementJoe no, Thunderbird uses a different protocol altogether - either POP3/POP3S or IMAP/IMAPS to receive mail, and SMTP/SMTPS to send it. The GMail API is for use by Javascript clients (which must possess a powerful authentication token supplied by the legitimate account user), and data is sent through the HTTPS protocol. – LSerni Dec 10 '18 at 17:22

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