Flash Cookies, or Local Shared Objects, are stored on the user system by Macromedia Flash applications. They function a lot like cookies and can be used to store session information or save a game progress. The real problem that many users have with them is that they do not know that they exist because they are not stored in the same directory as the normal browser cookies.
Adobe is providing a website with options to change Flash Cookie behavior. Users can change the storage space – default 100K – or deny access to Flash Cookies to websites that they have already visited.
It’s not a practical solution though. Objection on the other hand is a Firefox add-on that is giving access to the Flash Cookies right in the browser. It is not possible to change settings with the add-on but it provides an easy way to delete selected (or all) Flash Cookies.
The add-on provides an automatic search to find the location of the Local Shared Objects Folder on the system. It was not able to detect mine and I had to manually add it by browsing to the correct location. According to Wikipedia Flash Cookies are located in..
- Windows: LSO files are stored typically with a “.SOL” extension, within each user’s Application Data directory, under Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects.
- Mac OS X: For Web sites, ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player. For AIR Applications, ~/Library/Preferences/[package name (ID) of your app].
- GNU-Linux: ~/.macromedia
All Flash Cookies stored on the system are displayed once the folder has been correctly identified. A click on a Flash Cookie displays its contents. The user has the option to delete selected Flash Cookies only or all of them in one go.
Related posts:
Manage Flash Cookies with Better PrivacyFour Options To Deal With Flash Cookies
Flash Cookies explained
Add And Edit Cookies Firefox Extension
Firefox Cookie Editor
Internet Cookies Manager
Installing Firefox and Flash From Source
How to disable third party cookies in Firefox
15 Responses to “Delete Flash Cookies”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
-
[...] Sitio oficial | Objection Vía | gHacks [...]
-
[...] Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Many sites that use Flash objects put Local Shared Objects, or “Flash Cookies,” on your computer in often out-of-the-way locations. Objection, a free Firefox add-on, automatically tracks down those cookies (most of the time) and provides an interface for learning more about what information they’re storing and deleting them. Why go through this effort? It’s a more complete way of covering your browsing tracks at work or home, for one thing, and Flash Cookies are not the most secure items to keep laying around. If Objection doesn’t find your LSO directory right off, hit the via link below for a list of common locations. Objection is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. Objection [via gHacks] [...]
-
[...] Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Many sites that use Flash objects put Local Shared Objects, or “Flash Cookies,” on your computer in often out-of-the-way locations. Objection, a free Firefox add-on, automatically tracks down those cookies (most of the time) and provides an interface for learning more about what information they’re storing and deleting them. Why go through this effort? It’s a more complete way of covering your browsing tracks at work or home, for one thing, and Flash Cookies are not the most secure items to keep laying around. If Objection doesn’t find your LSO directory right off, hit the via link below for a list of common locations. Objection is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. Objection [via gHacks] [...]
-
[...] using FireFox you can install a plugin to remove them (Regular ways to remove cookies don’t work) described here and find some more additional info on flash [...]
-
[...] several additional security risks to computer systems. We already discussed the impact of so called Flash Cookies which are able to track a user even if he deletes the normal cookies regularly across multiple web [...]
I know it’s still in development, but it would be nice if they have a feature that deletes all flash cookies upon exit from the browser.
As usual, thanks for the tip. Keep them coming.
1. Even after you go (repeatedly) to the adobe/macromedia website and think
you have set FlashPlayer to stop hiding these nasty secret cookies, they
still appear on your hard drive.
2. You can do a Search for them on your machine by searching for *.sol and
you will find a lot of them.
3. You can VIEW the content of some of the cookies (some are encrypted)
with your Notepad or similar program.
4. MAXA COOKIE MANAGER (Germany) will find these secret cookies (and will
let you see their content), but if you want to delete them, you need to buy
the Paid Version of MAXA.
5. These cookies are NOT HARMLESS! They contain highly specific, personal
info about your computer and your viewing habits. Some of them even include
your computer’s name and directory paths. This is way too invasive and
should not be allowed–especially when done secretly behind our backs like
this, by Adobe/Macromedia.
6. If you feel these secret Adobe/Macromedia spy cookies are a violation of
your privacy and personal boundaries, COMPLAIN LOUDLY to Adobe & DEMAND that
they provide a PATCH that allows end-users to set the parameters (ON OUR OWN
HARD DRIVES without interference from Adobe!) for whether these cookies
appear on our machines…
We need a way to PERMANENTLY OPT OUT of these invasive Flash Cookies.
GOOD LUCK!
Objection is a plugin which is headed in the right direction; but, as one of the previous posters indicated, has no automation available through the extension.
Another solution (which I personally implement and recommend) is to set up a periodic nulling run (every few minutes or so) of a great freeware backup program called “Replicator”:
(http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp)
The desired functionality is realized through a job setup which is configured to copy content from any arbitrary directory of your system (”C:\” for example) WITHOUT TRANSFERRING ANY FILES OR SUBFOLDERS (in other words, nothing at all) directly to your “C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\” folder.
The resulting mirror will be void: Complete automated deletion of all LSO cookies; with the bonus of having a fantastic freeware backup program in your system tray.
Savvy?
Note: in Linux, LSOs are stored in ~/.macromedia/Flash_Player/#SharedObjects not just ~/.macromedia
In Linux, it looks like they also may be stored in ~/.adobe
The easiest and most effective way (I’m a lazy person) is to remove the write authority on the
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player
Directory. All of your online bank sites still work.. because note all people have flash installed, and not all browser types support flash.
You can also add the Macromedia folder…
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player
…to CCleaner’s include folder, so it gets automatically cleaned every time you run the program.
put a file in each directory named after the sub directory
flash will fail to store the cookies
or,,,,,,,,, use
= = = flushflash.bat = = =
cd “C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player”
dir
pause
deltree /Y *.*
cd “C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Adobe\Flash Player\AssetCache”
dir
pause
deltree /Y *.*
I am able to locate .SOL files, but not .LSO so which one is it?
Yeah, disabling flash cookies in Linux is broken….. I have have to manually delete them… this is for flash 10.