US regulators have revealed that they are concerned about the use of Flash cookies to track a person’s web usage without their knowledge.
Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said that his organisation has been talking to Adobe about a ‘Flash problem that needs to be solved’. FTC chief technologist Ed Felten then clarified that the ‘problem’ is Flash cookies, which Adobe calls ‘local shared objects’.
“The issues have to do with uses of Flash for tracking, Flash cookies for example. As of today, when you use the privacy controls in your browser, they don’t directly affect the treatment of Flash local shared objects,’ Felten said.
In common with standard HTTP cookies, Flash cookies are used by websites to store information that may be useful to the local computer user, such as site preferences or shopping cart contents. But while web browsers make it easy for users to delete HTTP cookies, or even prevent sets from creating them, Flash cookies are impervious to such security measures. The only way to manage them is through a set of slightly arcane controls on the Adobe website and among major browsers only Google Chrome provides a direct link.
Adobe said that it has repeatedly stated that it does not approve of sites using Flash cookies to track users and added that it would back ‘any industry initiative to foster clear, meaningful and persistent choice regarding online tracking’.
It isn’t known whether the decision to look into ‘local shared objects’ was prompted by Felten, a well-known and respected expert on computer privacy issues. The FTC’s decision to appoint him was roundly praised by digital rights campaigners.
