Beware Flash cookies

[Robert Holmes]

Flash has it's own version of cookies that not many people know about and are hard to delete. See http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

If you want to delete them or stop them getting dropped on your computer you actually need to use a control panel on the Adobe site: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html#118539

-- Robert

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

[Owen Densmore]

What settings did you use at the adobe site?  It wasn't very clear to  
me what they all meant!  And my first visit ended up having the  
settings program go nuts and I had to kill it.

In the bigger picture, Javascript (including the flash libraries) is  
part of the evolution of the browser being the desktop.  Apparently  
Javascript/Flash is the way the mic and camera are made available  
today.  I *want* the mic and camera to be included, but would like it  
to be innocuous.  This may not be possible.

The W3C seems to have a lot of web standards, and the Javascript world  
is standardized under ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers  
Association).  Couldn't they together specify the way the mic/camera  
are managed?

In the even larger picture: it seems to me that all languages, not  
just Javascript, should have a web subset that falls under sandbox or  
similar standardization.  Why not allow, for example, Python etc to be  
valid browser languages.  And I don't mean as simple applet-like  
extensions/plugins.  But something that can manage the DOM itself,  
that is literally integrated into the browser itself.  And thus also  
able to deal with the mic/camera.

Chrome is said to be looking into this.

     -- Owen


On Sep 15, 2009, at 7:00 AM, Robert Holmes wrote:

> Flash has it's own version of cookies that not many people know  
> about and are hard to delete. See http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/
>
> If you want to delete them or stop them getting dropped on your  
> computer you actually need to use a control panel on the Adobe site: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html#118539
>
> -- Robert


============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

[Robert Holmes]

Not the friendliest control panel is it? I ended up turning off local storage (under Global Storage Settings) and setting other sites use of my cam and mic to "Always Ask" (under Global Privacy and Global Security Settings)

-- R

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Owen Densmore <[hidden email]> wrote:

What settings did you use at the adobe site?  It wasn't very clear to me what they all meant!  And my first visit ended up having the settings program go nuts and I had to kill it.

In the bigger picture, Javascript (including the flash libraries) is part of the evolution of the browser being the desktop.  Apparently Javascript/Flash is the way the mic and camera are made available today.  I *want* the mic and camera to be included, but would like it to be innocuous.  This may not be possible.

The W3C seems to have a lot of web standards, and the Javascript world is standardized under ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association).  Couldn't they together specify the way the mic/camera are managed?

In the even larger picture: it seems to me that all languages, not just Javascript, should have a web subset that falls under sandbox or similar standardization.  Why not allow, for example, Python etc to be valid browser languages.  And I don't mean as simple applet-like extensions/plugins.  But something that can manage the DOM itself, that is literally integrated into the browser itself.  And thus also able to deal with the mic/camera.

Chrome is said to be looking into this.

   -- Owen

On Sep 15, 2009, at 7:00 AM, Robert Holmes wrote:

Flash has it's own version of cookies that not many people know about and are hard to delete. See http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

If you want to delete them or stop them getting dropped on your computer you actually need to use a control panel on the Adobe site: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html#118539

-- Robert

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org