Delete Flash Cookies: The Hardly Known Step for Optimum Privacy
It is common knowledge that surfing the web will expose a user’s personal information compromising the safety and privacy of his or her files and computer. To maintain safety and security, a careful user will typically delete browsing history, files and cookies after a session on the internet. Since search engines keep the record of the visited websites, deleting the history or clearing the cache and cookies can be easily done through the tools tab (or equivalent) of the browser itself. For example, to manually erase the browsing history in Firefox, you can simply do the following steps.- Click on the Tools tab located at the top of the browser’s window.
- Select Options and click on the Privacy tab.
- Click on the link “Clear your recent history”
- Choose the time frame that you want for deleting the history in the drop down box.
If you regularly do this clean-up process then kudos to you. You are one step ahead of the other users in keeping your computer secure. But simply removing your browsing history and cookies in the web browser does not give your computer complete protection. Average users always miss on one more step only because they are unaware of another type of cookies – the flash cookies.
Essentially, flash cookies, otherwise known as Local Shared Objects (LSOs), are cookie files used by Adobe Flash Player. That means Adobe’s well-known Flash plugin separately saves its own cookies from the normal browser cookies. For instance, flash cookies can save your settings and preferences when you are video streaming or playing online games. So even if you regularly clean your browser’s history and cache, a record of your online activity still exists if you do not delete flash cookies. And if you do not totally clear up your tracks, it is highly plausible for hackers to gain access to your personal data or cause damage to your files and computer. The sad part is only a few people even knows about the existence of flash cookies. But now that you are among those who have basic knowledge on these dangerous flash cookies, you are close to getting optimum privacy. For a thorough understanding, the list below shows all the facts about flash cookies followed by ways on how to manage or delete them.
Flash Cookies Fact File
- They are similar in function with the regular cookies – stores information and record of the sites you have visited.
- Like you, internet browsers are not aware of the existence of flash cookies.
- Because of fact number 2, browsers cannot remove flash cookies or LSOs by default.
- Flash cookies are well hidden. They are stored in a different directory from browser cookies.
- They know no expiration and they can remake regular cookies from the gathered data.
- It is difficult to identify which flash cookie sites are on your track.
Ways to Delete Flash Cookies
- Mozilla Firefox’s BetterPrivacy add on
- For other Browsers, turn to the CCleaner for help
- Adobe’s Own Solution
As aforementioned, browsers cannot delete flash cookies by default but you can certainly configure Mozilla Firefox to do it. Through the BetterPrivacy add on, you can choose to delete flash cookies automatically, periodically (setting a time frame), and manually. BetterPrivacy is found in the Tools menu. Go to the Add-ons option then to the Extension section.
If you are using Internet Explorer, Chrome, and other internet browsers, download CCleaner to delete flash cookies. Verify if CCleaner is set to remove LSOs automatically. Adobe Flash Player should be checked under the Multimedia options of the Applications tab in the Cleaner section.
Adobe knows flash cookies best so providing solutions to manage them is expected from them. That is why Adobe provided a website where every user can modify flash cookie behavior. Basically, flash cookies automatically find their way into your computer whenever you use Flash applications. So if you want to change how Flash behaves in your browser and manually control flash cookie access, try to visit Adobe’s Global Storage Settings panel in their website.
Other ways to delete flash cookies are sure to arrive. Right now the options are limited but they do the job just fine. Flash cookies are not really harmful by nature but they do cause potential threat to your private files because they are points of entry for people with malicious intent. It is like having a weak spot in your otherwise strong defense. Flash cookies are not even hard to manage once you know how they behave. The only real problem is the lack of awareness of many users of what flash cookies are. Once they know what they are missing, looking for solutions is already quite easy. Maintaining browsing security and privacy always depends on one’s level of knowledge.