"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 JavaScript 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 therefore are unlikely to delete them. Additionally, commercial anti-spyware applications do not typically block these files, as they do cookies."

"United Virtualities is offering online marketers and publishers technology that attempts to undermine the growing trend among consumers to delete cookies planted in their computers.

The New York company on Thursday unveiled what it calls PIE, or Persistent Identification Element, a technology that's uploaded to a browser and restores deleted cookies. In addition, PIE, which can't be easily removed, can also act as a cookie backup, since it contains the same information.

United Virtualities's PIE helps combat this consumer behavior by leveraging a feature in Flash MX called Local Shared Objects. Flash MX is a Macromedia Inc. application for developing multimedia Web Content, User Interfaces and Web Applications. The technology runs on a Flash Player that the company says is deployed on 98 percent of Internet-capable computers.

When a consumer goes to a PIE-enabled website, the visitor's browser is tagged with a Flash object that contains a unique identification similar to the text found in a traditional cookie. In this way, PIE acts as a cookie backup, and can also restore the original cookie when the consumer revisits the site. While consumers have learned to delete cookies, most are unaware of Shared Objects, and don't know how to disable them.

Jeff Whatcott (Vice President of Product Management for Macromedia), said that Macromedia is discussing with Microsoft Corp., the Mozilla Foundation and other browser makers the possibility of letting consumers control the use of Cookies and Shared Objects from one location in a browser.

"Our goal is to always put the user in control over their own data and machine," Whatcott said. "That's the approach we've always taken.""

How to disable Local Shared Objects

What is a Local Shared Object?

Local Shared Objects (LSO) are used by Flash content and applications to store information they may want to preserve between sessions. Flash content appears on the web in a variety of forms ranging from animations, product demonstrations or visualizations, applications, advertisements, and video clips.

Unless you specifically provide personal information to Flash content, Local Shared Objects won’t contain anything you want kept private. No data about you is made available to Flash content by Flash Player, and information that content places in local shared objects is only accessible to the content which originally stored it. Users are always advised to be cautious about providing personal information over the web.

A website can use Local Shared Objects, for example, to recognize that you’ve visited the site before, and present a tailored welcome message. Advertisers can also use this information to determine that you’ve seen an ad before. There is nothing personally-identifiable in this data—they know nothing about you, other than that you have visited previously, unless you specifically tell them.

Where can I disable the Local Shared Objects

You can disable Local Shared Objects on a per-site basis or for all sites using the Macromedia Flash Player Settings Manager. You can also delete data that may currently be stored locally.

The Global Storage Settings Panel allows you to allow or deny Flash content you visit in the future from storing information in local shared objects.

The Website Storage Settings Panel lets you customize this decision per website. You can use this panel to create a “block list” for specific websites. You can also use this panel to delete all existing data, without affecting the performance of Flash content in your browser.

Note: Both the Website Storage Panel and the Global Settings Panel are interactive SWF files that allow you to change certain Flash Player settings.

Read this article for more details about how Flash Player helps you preserve your privacy.

1. Play any .swf file in your browser.
2. Right click on the playing file.
3. Select *Settings* in the menu.

   

4. You will then see a panel such as this slightly enlarged image, or similar.

   

   (Note: You can not make the permanent settings adjustments from this local panel, this just shows you what the settings are that you set in the online Settings Manager.)
   
   
5. Click on the blue  icon in the above panel to access the online Settings Manager.

• Global Privacy Settings (More)
• Global Storage Settings (More)
• Global Security Settings (More)
• Global Notifications Settings (More)
• Website Privacy Settings (More)
• Website Storage Settings (More)
• Local Storage Settings (More)
• Microphone Settings (More)
• Camera Settings (More)
• Privacy Settings (More)
• Automatic Notification of Updates (More)
• Local Storage Pop-Up Question (More)
• Privacy Pop-Up Question (More)
• Security Pop-Up Question (More)
• About Updating Macromedia Flash Player (More)