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Participating Frequently
January 29, 2012
Question

Adobe is violating my Privacy - Flash Player Settings Manager a fraud!

  • January 29, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 4600 views

Okay, I wasted an entire day trying to rein in Flash. It only took me 30 minutes to read about LSO's and what I should do about them, but the rest of the day was spent trying to actually do it.

I have the following set on my FPSM (Flash Player Settings Manager):

-Block all sites from storing information on this computer

-Ask me when a site wants to use the camera or microphone

-Block all sites from using peer-assisted networking

-Check for updates automatically

Now, to make things all "sparkling clean", I ran CCleaner and BetterPrivacy (for Mozilla). I then go on my merry way of using the internet and after the family spends a full day surfing, to make sure things were working properly with the recent settings in FPSM, I go to BetterPrivacy to make sure that it is empty of LSO's. Guess what?!? LSO's are in there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And who is at the top of the list? ADOBE LSO!!

So, I go back to doing more research and reading. Apparently, Adobe is being real 'slick' and 'sneaky' by making the FPSM work in such a way that it secretly posts and saves an LSO on my computer - not to mention the other LSO's that the FPSM allowed to be saved on my computer, DESPITE me blocking all sites from storing information on my computer. (Yes, I did reset the settings after doing a cleaning and they still didn't work)

So, I found out that when you run BetterPrivacy to clear out LSO's, Adobe "acts" all dumb and pretends like it never remembers your settings and everything on the FPSM is set back to the most open and permissive settings, in other words, everything is allowed and you are wide open. Now, I know that I can tell BetterPrivacy to not delete the Adobe LSO, which apparently is holding the FPSM settings so it knows what to do in the future, but my point is - those 4 settings I chose are NOT doing their jobs. When I choose "block all sites", that is exactly what I expect it to do. And not allow previously viewed websites to have carte blanche to continue storing LSO's to my machine.

Adobe, you are violating my privacy!! When I choose 'block ALL sites from storing information on this computer', that includes YOU!!!

At this point, the FPSM is a fraud as it is not doing its job.

Can anybody tell me or point me to a privacy advocate group that can help me block LSO's from being saved to my computer as it is my right to privacy? (and that doesn't mean 'selective privacy')

Thanks in advance...

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    1 reply

    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2012

    Justai_Meai

    I have the following set on my FPSM (Flash Player Settings Manager):

    -Block all sites from storing information on this computer

    -Ask me when a site wants to use the camera or microphone

    -Block all sites from using peer-assisted networking

    -Check for updates automatically

    Now, to make things all "sparkling clean", I ran CCleaner and BetterPrivacy (for Mozilla).

    Which means that you just eliminated the LSO you created to with your FPSM.

    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2012

    I think you may have missed what I said in parenthesis above:

    (Yes, I did reset the settings after doing a cleaning and they still didn't work)

    Participating Frequently
    January 30, 2012

    Chris,

    Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about my concerns regarding internet privacy and an apparent 'loophole' in how Adobe Flash Player is still logging and storing a person's browsing history when visiting and activating Flash-rich media websites. My hope is that Adobe will quickly respond to this bug and address it swiftly, to protect users' privacy. Per your recommendation, I will follow through with the bug report so that it is part of the Adobe bug database.

    Again, thanks...

    Justai


    Chris,

    After filling out the bug report and submitting it, I got this:

    "Thank you for submitting a bug. Due to security concerns, this bug will not be externally viewable."

    Does this mean that no one will be able to view the bug report so they can contribute to it?