Flash Player Help

Privacy settings

• What are privacy settings?
• What happens if I select Allow?
• What happens if I select Deny?
• What does Remember mean?
• How can I redisplay this panel to change my privacy settings?
• I don't see the Privacy tab, so I can't display this panel.

What are privacy settings?

Applications that are running in Adobe Flash Player may want to have access to the camera and/or microphone available on your computer. Privacy settings let you specify whether you want applications from a particular website to have such access. 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 access to your camera or microphone). 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 audio or video. You should be aware of the privacy policy of anyone who is requesting audio or video access. 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 audio and video 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 capturing audio or video on your computer, or such companies' use of such data or information.

What happens if I select Allow?

If you select Allow, the application can capture what your camera sees and your microphone hears, until you close the application.

The application may want to broadcast the video and audio to other people who are viewing or hearing the application you are running — for example, during an interactive meeting. The application may also be recording the video and audio for later playback, so someone who can't attend the meeting can review it later.

It is also possible that the application wants to make the video and audio available only for you to see and hear — for example, to let you know how you look and sound while rehearsing a speech. In this case, the application does not broadcast or record the video and audio; it simply captures what you are doing while you are doing it.

As discussed in What are privacy settings? 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 audio or video. For example, will it be recorded or is it only available live? If it will be recorded, 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 audio or video access should address these sorts of issues.

What happens if I select Deny?

If you select Deny, the application does not have access to your camera or your microphone. The application will continue running, but may not function as intended. Alternately, the application may inform you that it can't continue unless you allow access, in which case you can either allow access or close the application.

What does Remember mean?

If you select Remember, your selection to allow or deny access applies to all applications from this website, not just the application that is currently running. That is, Flash Player won't ask you again if applications from this website can have access to your camera and microphone.

If you don't select Remember, your selection to allow or deny access applies only while the application is running. That is, if you run this application again, or any other application from this website, Flash Player will again ask you to allow or deny access to your camera and microphone.

How can I redisplay this panel to change my privacy settings?

You may want to change your privacy settings if, for example, you selected Remember and then want to change your Allow or Deny answer. To redisplay the Privacy Settings panel:

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

I don't see the Privacy tab, so I can't display this panel.

If your computer or device doesn't support audio or video recording using Flash Player, you don't need to allow or deny access, and this panel doesn't appear.