If you run more than one store, ad account or social profile, you have probably seen it happen: one account gets flagged, and a week later the others go down with it. The platform decided they all belong to the same person.

Most of the time it is not anything you posted. It is the browser and the network giving you away. This guide explains the three signals that link accounts, and then walks through a setup that keeps each account in its own separate browser.

Before you start: many platforms limit how many accounts one person or business may run. Separate browsers are for running the accounts you are allowed to run without them bleeding into each other, not for getting around a platform's rules. Check the terms of each site you use.

Why accounts get linked

Websites do not need your name to know two accounts are related. They compare technical signals, and three of them do most of the work.

1. The IP address

Every request comes from an IP address.…