Lawsuit Hits Companies Using 'Zombie' Flash Cookies 140
Posted
by
kdawson
from the brains-for-a-filling dept.
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."
And the other big Flash problem... (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.
Not Quantcast's fault (Score:0, Insightful)
Don't blame Quantcast. They're using the technology as Macromedia intended - to violate your privacy. That's what a Flash LSO does. Blame Macromedia, and now Adobe, for being so secretive about it. But, also blame yourself for not reading up on Flash before installing it, since this is well-documented behavior (just not on any Adobe website). Also, blame Microsoft for not telling you, since Flash comes with every version of Windows since at least XP.
Re:Not Quantcast's fault (Score:3, Insightful)
You're kidding, right?
Re:DMCA (Score:4, Insightful)
If your theory holds, the French could sue the Germans under the DMCA for circumventing the Maginot line [wikipedia.org]. Here's a pro tip: there are some circumventions which have jack all to do with copyright law.
Re:Save games (Score:4, Insightful)
CCleaner behaves badly? I beg to differ. CCleaner cleans trash. It ASKS you if you want to clean trash, then it TELLS you about the trash it finds, then ASKS again if you want to delete the trash.
Those who are to stupid to follow directions and/or to examine the results before taking out the trash deserve what they get.
As for those flash game files - big deal if all of them are deleted. The wife plays online flash games. Her files have been deleted by one or another privacy software. She logs back in to the site, and all her "important" saved stuff is loaded back onto her computer. Geez - that's a real burden isnt' it?
After the first time, she learned how to delete those super cookies without deleting the files she wanted saved.
Terrible learning curve, that. It took her all of 30 seconds of cussing and bitching, plus another 90 seconds of reading, and then ten more seconds to change the settings.
Meanwhile, Better Privacy routinely deletes all the asshattery of flash cookies that she didn't specifically authorize on her machine, and everyone is happy. Except the asshats, of course.
As for the lawsuit - yes, Super Cookies are a hack, and should be subject to hacking laws that are meant to protect the average user. Burn Quantcast for developing and using it, and burn everyone who has bought the damned thing. I don't care WHAT business you are in - you have no right to track people unless they specifically opt-in to a tracking program, with full knowledge and understanding of what they are doing.
Re:Lawsuit for *this*? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And here I thought I must have been drunk. (Score:4, Insightful)
Accurate though, because they
don't mention seasons!