FTC says it's talking to Adobe about the problem with 'Flash cookies'

We've already heard that the Federal Trade Commission is pushing for a "do not track" button of sorts to stop cookies from watching your every move, but it looks like it isn't stopping at the usual, non-edible definiton of a "cookie." Speaking at a press conference on Friday, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz also dropped the rather interesting tidbit that it's been talking with Adobe about what it describes as "the Flash problem." As Paid Content reports, newly-appointed FTC Chief Technologist Ed Felten later clarified that the problem in question is actually so-called "Flash cookies," or what Adobe describes as "local shared objects." As Felten explained, those can also be used for tracking purposes, but they usually aren't affected by the privacy controls in web browsers -- Chrome is one notable exception. For it's part, Adobe says that Flash's local shared objects were never designed for tracking purposes, and that it has repeatedly condemned such practices -- the company also added that it would support "any industry initiative to foster clear, meaningful and persistent choice regarding online tracking."

[Image courtesy dopefly dot com]

FTC says it's talking to Adobe about the problem with 'Flash cookies' originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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