Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
1–10 of 13 posts
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#2Oh so now it's a big deal? These have been around forever people, c'mon!
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#3“Instead of going to Amazon, I’m going to the local bookstore.”
Of course when there, she pays cash, doesn't use a rewards card and makes sure she doesn't appear on any security cameras.
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#4Oh so now it's a big deal? These have been around forever people, c'mon!
My thoughts exactly. I guess that is the way it goes though...
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#5Oh so now it's a big deal? These have been around forever people, c'mon!
They've been here forever, but there is still no good (user friendly) way to delete them. No easy way to define a privacy profile (delete cookies when I close my browser...).
I don't understand why flash doesn't hook into browser privacy settings by default. Instead, you have to install custom software like the firefox betterprivacy extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623/.
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#6Oh so now it's a big deal? These have been around forever people, c'mon!
They've been here forever, but there is still no good (user friendly) way to delete them. No easy way to define a privacy profile (delete cookies when I close my browser...). I don't understand why flash doesn't hook into browser privacy settings by default. Instead, you have to install custom software like the firefox betterprivacy extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623/ .
I believe the new flash player versions do respect the private browsing modes of browsers.
Back when I used to use windows, I used to touch two files called "#Security" and "#SharedObjects" in the flash player app data folder, which prevented it from downloading anything at all. In retrospect, it was an overly heavy-handed way of doing things :)
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#7[deleted]
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#8“The core function of the cookie is to link what you do on Web site A to what you do on Web site B,” said Peter Eckersley, a technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “The Flash cookie makes it harder for people to stop that from happening.”
I think the technologist intends to refer to third-party cookies.
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#9I also think Adobe is somewhat responsible, it seems like yet another case of them not looking out for there users best interests.
Also, I'm writing this post from my Flashless iPad, and it makes me feel even better about Apples's decision.
Re: Code Known as Flash Cookies Raises Privacy Concerns
#10“The core function of the cookie is to link what you do on Web site A to what you do on Web site B,” said Peter Eckersley, a technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “The Flash cookie makes it harder for people to stop that from happening.” I think the technologist intends to refer to third-party cookies.
No. Third party cookies do something similar, but don't always work with all browsers/privacy settings. Specifically, Safari won't accept third party cookies from non-blessed domains (one the user didn't navigate to on purpose). Some IE flavors needed the cookie to have a compact privacy policy in the header, something that was never audited or checked...total honor system.
This was a big problem at my last job, trying to get an accurate count of unique visitors to a network of around 50 distinct domains. Nothing nefarious, just trying to get a sense of which visitors on site A were the same (anonymous) visitors on site B.
Flash "cookies" work with more desktop browsers, although they always felt like an ugly hack.