Flash Cookies And How To Get Rid Of Them, You need to delete more than just your regular cookies Options

[Doug750]

Flash Cookies are also known as Local Shared Objects (LSO's).

Here is what they do or don't do:

1. They save Adobe Flash settings and store preferences for watching Flash video on certain web sites
2. They cache music files for better playback
3. They store unique identifiers, like regular cookies, that track sites you visit
4. They are stored in a place on your computer other than where your regular cookies are stored
5. They are not deleted when you clear your regular, private data (cookies) in Firefox
6. They are not deleted when you clear your regular, cookies in IE via tools (delete browsing history, delete cookies)
7. They re-create regular tracking cookies that have been deleted by the 2 methods just mentioned
(So even though you think you've deleted your cookies, you haven't)

Most websites don't tell you that they are dropping a Flash cookies in your computer. They are not usually addressed in a company's Privacy Statement.

How to delete Flash Cookies:

In Firefox
1. install an add-on called Better Privacy. Go to this link: BetterPrivacy: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,...escription.html
This add-on will display a summary of your LSOs and lets you arrange to delete Flash and regular cookies automatically whenever you stop or start the browser.

In other browsers:
1. Go to the settings box at Macromedia's Flash Player Help page: http://www.macromedia.com/support/document..._manager03.html
and you can change the settings for the Flash Player on your computer

2. If you want your computer to prompt you for permission to proceed whenever a site wishes to store a Flash cookie on the PC, move the Global

Storage Settings slider bar all the way to the left (from ‘100KB' to ‘None').
3. To disable LSOs, check the Never Ask Again box.
Caution: doing this may prevent sites that use Flash content from working correctly
4. Unchecking the ‘Allow third-party Flash content' option may prevent advertisers from storing Flash cookies on your PC
Caution: That setting may also prevent Flash video from working correctly on some sites

To delete all existing Flash cookies:
1. Click the Website Storage Settings tab at the far left of the Flash settings interface
2. Click the Delete all sites button at the tab's base
3. To delete the cookies individually, highlight an entry and click Delete website

Note: According to Adobe, altering these settings once will cover any browser on your PC