gardengal December 10, 2010 15:16

first-party trackers question

I found a first-party tracker from my bank. My SHaredObjects folder contains a file disofactor.swf.

LSOFOLDER/bankname.com/online/HB/flashutil/disofactor.swf

I read somewhere you do not block first-party trackers.

How do I know if this tracker is good or bad? Can there be a good tracker?

I can block it via AdblockPlus easily enough. Would I block the .script element or the .swf element? There was a third element with the same root too.
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  • CHAMP
    Felix Shnir December 11, 2010 04:30
    hi gardengal, thanks for using Ghostery.

    Ghostery only removes the LSOs that belong to known tracker companies (there is an internal database that is used for matching). Technically, LSOs allow a web site to store any kind of information local to the computer you are using. Not all of them are malicious, and a lot of sites use LSOs to store all kinds of information, for example, a bank could store your authentication information so you are not forced to type the entire login all the time. That said, I would need to know the exact contents to tell you what it might be used for.

    Additionally, Ghostery is designed to block third parties, so if the first party creates an LSO, Ghostery lets it through.
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  • gardengal December 11, 2010 19:53
    I guess I could go read their privacy policy and maybe it will tell me. That might be a chore!
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