Posted on 08/16/2009 11:13:19 AM PDT by tunedin
Just installed “better privacy”....thanks!
http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/04/flash-cookies-explained/
There's a link on that page to Adobe's Flash Player 'Settings Manager'. Yeah, that's right, you have to go to Adobe's creepy website to make any setting changes to their software ON YOUR COMPUTER! Way to go, Adobe! Underhanded b***ards!
Anyway, the guy at ghacks.net explains how to turn Flash cookies off forever so that theoretically you wouldn't need any FireFox privacy addons like 'Better Privacy' (but personally, I'm not sure I want to do that). This info is also repeated on the Adobe site.
BUT GET THIS NEW REVELATION... Websites that set Flash cookies on your computer also have the ability to CONTROL YOUR CAMERA AND MICROPHONE!!! At least that's how I read it. I couldn't disable that little BIG BROTHER feature fast enough, even though I don't have a microphone and camera hooked up to our computer.
Imagine it, you visit the White House's website and they not only set a Flash cookie on your machine, but snap your picture and record your voice to see if you're muttering anything fishy about them under your breath!
GOOD GOD, man, it's truly a Brave New World!
Yes. And I had hundreds and hundreds of them. The secret is these Flash cookies are not all that new. They’ve been around for several years (and the cookies have been piling up on our machines) but only now are getting more widespread press. Thus, I just learned about them last week when I saw the Wired article. See also my post #62.
You’re welcome, sir. See also my post #62.
“I may be mistaken but didn’t someone do this same thing in Germany during WWII? “
The web was really slow then, so not many people used it.
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I don’t know how many I had (probably several hundred), but I have none now :).
My son, far more comfortable with computer computer than I, had not heard of these. He said that Flash, tho necessary to watch You-Tube, is notorious for having security issues—he has been hacked once.
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