Out-Law News 2 min. read
05 May 2011, 2:21 pm
Users that update their Flash players to the latest Adobe version will be able to delete the 'super cookies' if they use Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) or the more recent version of the browser, IE9, Microsoft said.
Flash technology used on many websites can track users' activity in a way that is not currently removed when users change their browser settings to delete cookies.
"When we released IE8, we added [application program interfaces] for Internet Explorer so that add-ons such as Flash can respond to Delete Browsing History and InPrivate Browsing, allowing consumers to delete Flash cookies along with other data in browsing history," Andy Zeigler, Program Manager, Internet Explorer said in a blog post.
"Adobe recently announced that Flash Player 10.3 integrates with Delete Browsing History.
This means that when you delete your cookies with Delete Browsing History, Flash Player will automatically clear your Flash cookies as well. We applaud the change. It resolves a longstanding privacy issue," Zeigler said.
Websites store text files on users' computers called 'cookies' to record user activity on their site. These 'cookies' help websites recognise users when they return to the site.
A Flash cookie, which is also called a local shared object, is information that records when a user visits a site that displays Flash content and until now has been harder to delete. Previously users could only delete Flash cookies via Adobe's website.
In March Adobe announced that it would make it easier for users to delete the Flash cookies using browser settings.
"Users will have a simpler way to clear local storage from the browser settings interface – similar to how users clear their browser cookies today. Flash Player 10.3 integrates control of local storage with the browser’s privacy settings in Mozilla Firefox 4, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and higher, and future releases of Apple Safari and Google Chrome," Adobe said when it launched the beta version of its latest Flash player.
Internet Explorer has set up a test page for users to try out the new system for deleting Flash cookies, Andy Zeigler, IE's Program Manager said.
In 2009 US students discovered that Flash cookies were not deleted when users erased conventional cookies using their browser settings. This has raised privacy concerns about a website's ability to track user activity.
Some websites raise money by allowing behavioural advertisers to use cookies in order to supply users with targeted adverts that relate to what they have looked at online.
In 2009 the European Commission announced a package of telecoms reforms that included changes to the way the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications treat cookies.
The new law said that sites must have a user's consent before placing a cookie in their browser. Industry groups have argued that a user's browser settings can indicate consent to the use of cookies, but privacy regulators have said that this does not represent full consent.
The UK government announced last month that browser settings alone did not constitute user consent to cookie tracking. Websites will have to gain more explicit approval from users to track their online activity, the government said.
The UK government has said that it will copy the exact wording of the changes in the Directive into national law before the 25 May deadline.
