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Lawsuit Hits Companies Using 'Zombie' Flash Cookies

Posted by kdawson on from the brains-for-a-filling dept.

A privacy activist has filed a lawsuit targeting eight corporate users of Quantcast's "zombie" Flash cookies, in addition to Quantcast itself. The suit alleges that MTV, ESPN, MySpace, Hulu, ABC, Scribd, and others used Quancast's Flash-based cookies to recreate browser tracking cookies that users had taken the trouble to delete. "At issue is technology from Quantcast, also targeted in the lawsuit. Quantcast created Flash cookies that track users across the web, and used them to re-create traditional browser cookies that users deleted from their computers. These 'zombie' cookies came to light last year, after researchers at UC Berkeley documented deleted browser cookies returning to life. Quantcast quickly fixed the issue, calling it an unintended consequence of trying to measure web traffic accurately. ... The lawsuit (PDF)... asks the court to find that the practice violated eavesdropping and hacking laws, and that the practice of secretly tracking users also violated state and federal fair trade laws. The lawsuit alleges a 'pattern of covert online surveillance' and seeks status as a class action lawsuit."

4 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. And the other big Flash problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can't change the !@#$%^& Flash settings on your own computer. You have to go to a Flash website. And you can't manage your flash cookies without going to some obscure website.

    It would be the easiest programming thing in the world to let people manage all the Flash settings and cookies right on the computer (no internet).

    But noooo... that isn't the way the snoopy Flash people want things to be.

  2. Here is the shitty site by psyclone · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

    Noscript users must temporarily allow adobe.com as well. (But at least you don't need to allow real cookies for either domain.)

    You can set the flash plugin to not store any data, but it sure gets annoying on some sites when the volume controls don't work. You can also set it to ask, but it's even more annoying to try and hit the "cancel" button 15 times with choppy video behind it.

    1. Re:Here is the shitty site by Animats · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes. If you tighten up the privacy controls enough on Flash, many video sites won't play, and some play badly. YouTube's player, for example, will display the "Press ESC to exit full screen mode" for the duration of play. There's absolutely no reason why that feature should depend on storing persistent information. It would be interesting to subpoena the developer and the documentation during development to determine if that was willfully put in to discourage users from using strict privacy settings.

  3. Re:And here I thought I must have been drunk. by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 5, Funny

    What kind of fetish involves raping a man's barbecue?