Flash cookies, another way to track you

My good friend Diane V. notified me of an article she wrote on Flash cookies as a way to install data on your computer so as to track you.

Ok, first off, why would anyone want to track you?

Money.

If marketing people can predict where large numbers of you readers will go, they can predict what will sell, and hence, make their clients MONEY.

Think MILLIONS of Internet users and you get the idea of the amount of money potential here, and you should also get an idea of the insanity behind the push for tracking you and you and you.

So how does this one work?

Per one of the Internet marketing companies themselves, Clickz.com states that

“The technology is based on a feature of Flash MX called “local shared objects” (SOs), which can easily be placed on a user’s machine by adding a piece of Javacript to a Web page. SOs are similar to cookies in concept and function. The main difference is Web users don’t know what SOs are, and are therefore unlikely to delete them. Additionally, commercial anti-spyware applications do not typically block these files, as they do cookies.”

(Note that this process depends upon Javascript.)

All right, so how do you disable this piece of intrusive technology?

Disable Javascript.

Make yourself familiar with this process and you can enable it for the sites that need it in order to shop, etc..

If you are smart enough to be using Firefox or Opera (which I sincerely hope you are) then that would be a good start.

In Firefox, click on either Edit or Tools depending on which version you have, then Preferences, Web Features and simply uncheck Javascript.

IMPORTANT NOTE: With Firefox you can also install FlashBlock which will block Flash banners, etc. from running until you click on them to “play” them. You can find FlashBlock here.

For Opera, (version 8) click on Tools, Quick Preferences and simply uncheck Javascript.

If you are using Internet Explorer, PLEASE CONSIDER USING ONE OF THE ABOVE BROWSERS FOR YOU OWN SAFETY. Click here to find out why.

If you must stick with Internet Explorer, click on Tools, Options, scroll down to the bottom of the list and disable Javascript.

Now, go let Yahoo and Macromedia know what you think of them for breaking into and reading data on your computer.