I have or rather had) those annoying Kontera pop-up links disabled but they keep coming back.  I go to their web site and disable them.  But when I come back to this article, they are enabled again.  I wonder if they are using Flash Cookies (which I disabled).

Dude! Thanks for posting this.

John, thank you very much for this post.

I deleted all those damn Flash cookies, there was even one from .me!

I thought that I hated Flash before

John:  Thanks.  This is tremendously useful and, I believe, little known information.  I am handing this info to friends and our IT Administrator.  But you should look at the other settings in the Settings Manager.  Flash, according to what is there, can also be used by third parties to gain remote access to the camera and microphone on your computer; it can also allow some websites to access information about other sites that you visit by using an older system of security.  I think that your readers would benefit by reviewing all of the settings in the Settings Manager to determine whether the default settings are consistent with their security policies.

And let’s hope that audio and video capabilities of HTTP5 put a quick end to Flash or at least begin the end of Flash.

I’m having a problem with Flash Player that involves the Global Storage Settings in a slightly different way.

Frequently, when I’m viewing a page with a video like the the Daily Show on Comedy Central it shows as a gray box with an error message that reads:“User must allow third-party flash content.” To do that, the message directs you to: Flash Player storage

But when I try to adjust storage levels, the level I choose keeps sliding back to default. This occurs in both Firefox 3.5.3 and Safari 4.

As a result, I keep getting the storage adjustment message and some videos like the Daily Show just won’t play. I’ve filed a bug about Flash with Adobe and their tech person didn’t know why this is happening. I’m running 10.4.11 but others who have encountered the same bug are using 10.5.

I really appreciate this info, but you really should warn people that doing this breaks Flash functionality.  I just spent 10 minutes wondering why a video on the WSJ wouldn’t play, when it dawned on me that following your advice broke Flash.

If any politician would promise to implement the death penalty for spammers and people who implement crap like these Flash cookies, I would vote for them in a heartbeat.

I really appreciate this info, but you really should warn people that doing this breaks Flash functionality.

That is good, Flash needs to go away.

I just spent 10 minutes wondering why a video on the WSJ wouldn’t play, when it dawned on me that following your advice broke Flash.

Did you pay Murdoch’s subscription fee

CrazyHarry said: I really appreciate this info, but you really should warn people that doing this breaks Flash functionality.
That is good, Flash needs to go away.

Don’t be a nuckfut.  Flash is a pain, but it is also currently a major tool for accessing a lot of content on the web.  If Macobserver is going to give people advice about how to configure software on their computers, then they ought to inform the readers of the full consequences and let individuals decide for themselves which is more important to them, privacy or being able to access content on the web.

date="1253212738">

Did you pay Murdoch’s subscription fee

Why is that your business, nuckfut?

Why is that your business, nuckfut?

See this MacObserver story Wall Street Journal

Most websites deliver content without the putting the burden of Flash on their visitors, adverts not withstanding. I stand by my statement; Flash needs to go away.

Okay, I just had a lemonade and am cooled down a bit.

Question, if the 3rd parties were storing stuff on our computers, where is located? Maybe we could do a folder action to trash the contents or at least alert the user when something is put in there.

I ran across the whole flash cookie thing a few months back. What I found is that if I change the Adobe settings to not allow any local storage then it results in blocking flash that I want to see at some sites. So I have just been deleting the flash cookies.

If use Finder and look here:

~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player

You will find a #SharedObjects folder that contains a sub-folder of a random name. Delete all the files in that folder.

I have also noticed a macromedia.com folder in the same location as #SharedObjects. Drilling down to the support >> flashplayer >> sys folder I see that sites store their settings there. While not technically cookies, you may want to delete all or some of these as well.

There are some Firefox add-ons such as Better Privacy:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623

which will automatically delete flash cookies if you desire but I have not found anything similar for Safari yet. (although it may be out there)

It looks like Safari Cookies may do this to but I haven’t tried it yet:

http://sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/index.htm

Besides being added to the article, the Adobe settings pages the article links to also warn that certain settings will mean losing functions on some sites. Turning all the features off just to see which sites are saving information without disclosing they are can be pretty enlightening in and of itself.

Thanks Carl

I looked in those folders and there was a lot of stuff in from sites that I never visited, they look like ads. Of course there were items from sites that I did visit.

I added a folder action to them and will see how that works out.

Turning all the features off just to see which sites are saving information without disclosing they are can be pretty enlightening in and of itself.

Well the folder action I applied warns me that something was added when I opened this page. It was an empty folder.

Hmmm, if i leave the empty folder in the #SharedObjects folder then refresh this page then nothing gets added.

It looks like Safari Cookies may do this to but I haven’t tried it yet:

http://sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/index.htm

I am the Dev for Safari Cookies, and while there is no support for managing the Flash cookies, there is an option to remove all Flash cookies when Safari is quit.

Dear Russell:  I just explored the preferences for Safari 4.0.3, running on Snow Leopard, but I couldn’t find any option that explicitly addresses removing Flash, LSO, cookies.  Would you or anyone please describe the procedure for having Safari remove LSO cookies, when it quits?

Thanks for your help.

You need to install my plugin Safari Cookies, available here: “http://sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/index.htm” and select the option to remove all Flash cookies.
(if you are running Snow Leopard, you will need to follow the instructions on that site to enable Safari Cookies”

Dear Russell:  I just explored the preferences for Safari 4.0.3, running on Snow Leopard, but I couldn’t find any option that explicitly addresses removing Flash, LSO, cookies.  Would you or anyone please describe the procedure for having Safari remove LSO cookies, when it quits?

See this MacObserver story Wall Street Journal

Most websites deliver content without the putting the burden of Flash on their visitors, adverts not withstanding. I stand by my statement; Flash needs to go away.

O.K., I’ll try to be a little more civil while carrying the debate forward.

Harry, I am going to blow your mind.

I also install another really crappy piece of software, Real Player, on my Mac solely so I have the ability to PAY $6.95 a month to watch BBC World News.  Are you going to argue that because you don’t like crappy software, Real Player should go away?  Or, that because you don’t think people should be allowed to charge for their content, that I shouldn’t be allowed to watch the BBC? 

Flash is crap, but I choose to install it any way.  Why should that bother you?

Dear Russell:  Thanks for the information, but since I am running Safari in its default 64-bit mode, I will wait until you update Safari Cookies to run in 64-bit mode.

here it is:

http://sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/updates/updates.htm

Dear Russell:  Thanks for the information, but since I am running Safari in its default 64-bit mode, I will wait until you update Safari Cookies to run in 64-bit mode.