Flash Player Help

Local storage pop-up question

• Why do I need to answer this question?
• What kind of information can an application running in Flash Player store on my computer?
• Who has access to the information?
• I've already set privacy and disk space options in my browser. How do these settings interact with my Flash Player settings?
• What happens if I select Allow?
• What happens if I select Deny?
• Do I have to answer this question every time I run an application from this website?
• How can I display this question again?

Why do I need to answer this question?

The application that you are running in Adobe Flash Player wants to store some information on your computer, but it needs more space than is currently allocated. By default, every flash application is allocated 100 kilobyte system memory. If an application want to store more information it requests this by this pop up to save the information. Once you allow the application to store information, application can store as much information as it wants. Note that it is the person or company that has created the application you are using that is requesting such access, not Adobe (unless Adobe has created the application that wants to save the information). In the dialog box shown above, [website] represents the name of the person or company requesting access. It is the responsibility of the person or company requesting access to make it clear to you why they want access and how they plan to use the information they save. You should be aware of the privacy policy of anyone who is requesting access to your computer. For example, see the Adobe privacy policy. Contact the website requesting access for information on their privacy policy.

It's important to understand that even though this settings panel is part of Flash Player, the information will be used by an application created by a third party. Adobe assumes no responsibility for third-party privacy policies, actions of third-party companies in storing information on your computer, or such companies' use of such data or information.

What kind of information can an application running in Flash Player store on my computer?

The kind of information stored depends on the application. Information can be anything from your user name to your current score in an interactive game to a list of stocks in your portfolio. The application should make it clear what kind of information it wants to store.

Who has access to the information?

This information may be accessed by the application that is currently running in Flash Player or by another application that runs in Flash Player on the same website. Adobe does not have access to this information (unless Adobe has created the application that wants to save the information). As discussed in Why do I need to answer this question? above, it is the responsibility of the website requesting access to make it clear to you why they want access and how they plan to use the information. For example, will it be available only to you, or will it be posted in a public place? Who will have access to it in the future? Will it be deleted after a certain period of time? The privacy policy of anyone who is requesting access should address these sorts of issues.

I've already set privacy and disk space options in my browser. How do these settings interact with my Flash Player settings?

You may be aware that some websites work together with your browser to store small amounts of data, called cookies, on your computer for their own use in the future. For example, when you go to a website regularly, it may welcome you by name; your name is probably stored in a cookie, and you can use browser options to determine whether you want cookies or not. You may also have specified in your browser that pages you visit can take up only a certain amount of disk space.

When SWF or FLV content is being played, the settings you select for Flash Player are used in place of options you may have set in your browser. That is, even if you have specified in your browser settings that you do not want cookies placed on your computer, you may be asked if an application running in Flash Player can store information. This happens because the information stored by Flash Player is not the same as a cookie; it is used only by the application that runs in Flash Player, and has no relation to any other Internet privacy or security settings you may have set in your browser.

Similarly, the amount of disk space you let the application that runs in Flash Player use has no relation to the amount of disk space you have allotted for stored pages in your browser. That is, when SWF or FLV content is being played, the amount of disk space you allow here is in addition to any space your browser is using for stored pages.

No matter how you may have configured your browser, you still have the option to allow or deny the application that runs in Flash Player permission to store the information, as discussed in the rest of this document.

What happens if I select Allow?

If you select Allow, the application that runs in Flash Player can store as much information as they want ,on your computer for future use.

What happens if I select Deny?

If you select Deny, Flash Player cannot store information on your computer for the particular application. The application will continue running, but it might not function as the author intended. Alternately, the application may inform you that it can't continue unless you make disk space available, in which case you can either allow the application to store data on disk or close the application.

Do I have to answer this question every time I run an application from this website?

No. You can use the Local Storage Settings panel to let future applications from this website store information on your computer without asking you for permission each time. To display the Local Storage panel:

1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the application image while it is running.
2. From the context menu, select Settings, and then click the Local Storage tab.

You can also use the Flash Player Settings Manager to manage your local storage settings both globally (for websites you haven't yet visited) and on a site-by-site basis (for websites you have already visited). For more information, see What can I do with the Settings Manager?

How can I display this question again?

You can't. Flash Player displays this question automatically when necessary.