[fredvries]

Download here.

Flash Cookies, otherwise known as Local Shared Object (LSO), are cookie-like data files that are stored on a user's computer. Flash Cookies are used by all versions of Adobe Flash Player.

Cookies by their design constitute privacy concerns because they store data which may be retrieved by people or programs that are up to no good. Ordinary cleaners do remove regular cookies but do not remove these Flash Cookies, giving the user a false sense of security. Several services even use Flash Cookies as a data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, which is called 're-spawning'. So even if a user gets rid of a website’s tracking cookie, that cookie’s unique ID will be assigned back to a new cookie again using the Flash data as the ‘backup’. If you value your privacy these Flash Cookies should be removed.

HotCleaner hase created a program called the Flash Cookies Cleaner that has been designed specifically to remove every Flash Cookie from your system.

The Flash Cookie Cleaner was created as part of a joint effort by Mixe and Fred de Vries.

Attached File(s)

•  2010-02-04_224159.png (8.59K)
  Number of downloads: 2

[Eldmannen]

Sounds like a good piece of software!

Good job!

[James_A]

Yes, all the major internet players use Flash cookies (aka LSO, aka .SOL files) to track you.

Yahoo also uses these to create your sign-in seal protection.

It's not enough to clear all your cookies when you exit Firefox or Internet Explorer, because these things are still there, both on Windows and Linux.

As Wikipedia puts it:

Quote

LSOs can be used by web sites to collect information on how people navigate those web sites even if people believe they've restricted the data collection. More than half of the internet’s top websites use LSOs to track users and store information about them. There is relatively little public awareness of LSOs, and they can usually not be deleted by the cookie privacy controls in a web browser. This may lead a web user to believe a computer is cleared of tracking objects, when it is not.

Fred's program works on Windows.
On Linux, look for the (normally hidden) .macromedia/Flash_Player/... directory tree under your home directory.


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[fredvries]

... and it has already been updated to version 1.2. It now analyzes your system first before it gives you the option to delete.

Attached File(s)

•  2010-02-05_151957.png (12.43K)
  Number of downloads: 1