zenon/bachelorarbeit
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Releases Wiki Activity

Add reference for Flash Cookies

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
Tobias Eidelpes 2020-08-10 17:39:09 +02:00
parent 22d6e7e297
commit 583c925114
2 changed files with 29 additions and 18 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

37
methods.tex
View File

@ -322,24 +322,25 @@ detect and block cookies (see chapter~\ref{chap:defenses against tracking}).
\subsection{Flash Cookies and Java JNLP PersistenceService}
\label{subsec:flash cookies and java jnlp persistenceservice}
Flash Cookies are similar to HTTP cookies in that they too are a store of
information that helps web sites and servers to recognize already seen users.
They are referred to as \glspl{LSO} by Adobe and are part of the Adobe Flash
Player runtime. Instead of storing data in the browser's storage, they have
their own storage in a different location on the user's computer. Another
difference is that they cannot only store 4 kilobytes of data but 100 kilobytes
and they also have no expiration dates by default (\gls{HTTP} cookies live until
the end of the session unless specified otherwise). Since Flash cookies are not
created by means the browser normally supports (i.e., \gls{HTTP}, \gls{CSS})
but by Adobe's Flash Player runtime, browsers are not managing Flash cookies.
This means that, due to Flash cookies not being tied to a specific browser, they
function across browsers. This capability makes them an interesting target for
trackers to store their identifying information in, because out of the box
browsers initially did not support removing Flash cookies and one had to
manually set preferences in the \emph{Web Storage Settings panel} provided by
the Flash Player runtime to get rid of them. Trackers were searching for a new
way to store identifiers because users became increasingly aware of the dangers
posed by \gls{HTTP} cookies and reacted by taking countermeasures.
Flash Cookies \cite{adobeAdobeFlashPlatform} are similar to HTTP cookies in that
they too are a store of information that helps web sites and servers to
recognize already seen users. They are referred to as \glspl{LSO} by Adobe and
are part of the Adobe Flash Player runtime. Instead of storing data in the
browser's storage, they have their own storage in a different location on the
user's computer. Another difference is that they cannot only store 4 kilobytes
of data but 100 kilobytes and they also have no expiration dates by default
(\gls{HTTP} cookies live until the end of the session unless specified
otherwise). Since Flash cookies are not created by means the browser normally
supports (i.e., \gls{HTTP}, \gls{CSS}) but by Adobe's Flash Player runtime,
browsers are not managing Flash cookies. This means that, due to Flash cookies
not being tied to a specific browser, they function across browsers. This
capability makes them an interesting target for trackers to store their
identifying information in, because out of the box browsers initially did not
support removing Flash cookies and one had to manually set preferences in the
\emph{Web Storage Settings panel} provided by the Flash Player runtime to get
rid of them. Trackers were searching for a new way to store identifiers because
users became increasingly aware of the dangers posed by \gls{HTTP} cookies and
reacted by taking countermeasures.
\citet{soltaniFlashCookiesPrivacy2009} were the first to report on the usage of
Flash cookies by advertisers and popular web sites. While surveying the top 100

10
references.bib
View File

@ -19,6 +19,16 @@
note = {Accessed 2020-07-12}
}
@misc{adobeAdobeFlashPlatform,
title = {Adobe~{{Flash~Platform}} * {{Shared}} Objects},
author = {Adobe},
url = {https://help.adobe.com/en_US/as3/dev/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d118a9b90204-7d80.html},
urldate = {2020-08-10},
journal = {Shared Objects},
note = {Accessed 2020-08-10},
type = {Developer's {{Guide}}}
}
@misc{adobecorporatecommunicationsFlashFutureInteractive2017,
title = {Flash \& {{The Future}} of {{Interactive Content}}},
author = {Adobe Corporate Communications},