Flash cookies revisited
Some years ago when I first wrote about Flash cookies, they were little known and not heavily used. They weren’t even called Flash cookies but went by the name of “persistent identification element” (PIE). Back then I noted:
Marketers want to know what people look at when they are online so that they can target their Web ads better. They want to “personalize” the ads that you see and they want to find out which ads attract the most attention. A primary method of obtaining this sort of information has been the tracking cookie. However, more and more computer users are blocking or deleting cookies. Many of the leading anti-spyware programs also delete tracking cookies. To combat this consumer resistance, marketing firms are devising new approaches.
To evade standard methods of cookie control, a method called persistent identification element (PIE) is being tried. The current version uses a feature of the Macromedia Flash application called local Shared Objects.
As time has passed, the PIE name has been supplanted by the term “Flash cookie” or “local shared object” (LSO) or even “super cookie”. (And, of course, Adobe has taken over Macromedia.) Usage of Flash cookies has grown to the point where they are very common. They are still, however, relatively unknown to home PC users. Two years ago I wrote about them on this blog but I feel that the subject needs revisiting. I have noticed that Flash cookies are now in heavy use in ad tracking . Since standard methods of cookie control do not apply, most PC users probably have quite a few Flash cookies on their system without being aware of it.
Not all Flash cookies are tracking cookies. They are also used to tag a computer so that a Web site can recognize a particular computer. For example, banks and other financial institutions are using Flash cookies as a security measure. It gives another check on whether someone trying to log in to a Web site is a legitimate account holder.
How do you control Flash cookies? The usual browser settings don’t apply. One general method is to use the little-known Adobe settings managers at several Adobe Web sites. The settings manager will read what’s on your computer and allow you to make some general settings on your local Flash player. I have described the procedure at my education site as well as in a previous post. For reference, I am reposting one of the figures showing an Adobe manager with actual readings from my PC:
Be aware that if you simply block Flash cookies with the Adobe settings manager, you may find sites like your bank saying that they don’t recognize your computer and asking for the maiden name of your mother or whatever challenge question you set up with your account.
Also, note that Flash cookies are not stored in easily found locations. For Windows XP, they are generally somewhere in the folder:
\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects
In Vista, it is better to use the environment variable %APPDATA% and the location for Flash cookies is:
%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects
The files have an extension .SOL and if you do a search for all files with this extension, you may find where they are. However, my experience is that the Windows search function is not good at detecting them.
A recently released free application called Flash Cookie Cleaner seems like a nice little utility. It’s simple and requires no installation. I have just taken a quick look at it and so far it looks good. It will find what Flash cookies are on your computer and give you an option to delete them. To repeat, deleting all Flash cookies may mean that your bank or other useful site may not recognize you.The figure below shows what the screen for Flash Cookie Cleaner looks like:
If you use Firefox for your browser, there is a useful add-on called Better Privacy that gives easier management of Flash cookies. I use it and I like it.
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