Folks really need to get the message about flash cookies

Flash Cookies Could Become Hot-Button Privacy Issue

Wendy Davis, MediaPost

Web users are not yet deleting Flash cookies as often as they shed more traditional cookies, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use Flash technology to track consumers online. That’s according to a new report commissioned by media audit company BPA Worldwide.

The report, authored by analytics expert Eric Peterson, warns that the use of Flash cookies, also called “local shared objects,” to override consumers’ choices could invite new privacy laws. “With the attention given to consumer privacy on the Internet at both individual and governmental levels, we believe that companies making inappropriate or irresponsible use of the Flash technology are very likely asking for trouble, (and potentially putting the rest of the online industry at risk of additional government regulation),” writes Peterson, CEO and principal consultant at Web Analytics Demystified…..

Jules Polonetsky quoted: “…Says he supports Peterson’s recommendations, but would go one step further. He says that companies also should refrain from using Flash cookies for tracking, given that most consumers don’t know about the technology. “To use a mechanism that most users are unaware of to track them is extremely poor privacy behavior,” Polonetsky says.”