privacy related questions

barium · 05-13-2011, 02:40 PM

Does the new eBook store search send any information to booksellers about you and the contents of your calibre library? (I mean beyond basic information necessary to complete a search, like the book title you enter and your IP address.) Is there a plan to grant booksellers or advertisers any sort of access to the contents of calibre libraries?

Also, on startup, calibre checks for updates and (I think) transmits your current version for storage and analysis. Does it collect any other information? [Edit: question was humorously answered in this thread; answer is an unequivocal no.]

Edit: After some searching, I see that the developers of calibre were offended by a recent question about this issue. I have the greatest respect for everyone who contributes to the project, and I do trust the application and developers. Still, I am curious and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

pilotbob · 05-13-2011, 02:52 PM

http://www.wireshark.org/ is your friend when you are trying to answer question like this.

But, I doubt there is any private info being sent. I doubt the start up even send your current version... it just asks the web site "what's the current version" and compares the response with the currently running version number.

BOb

theducks · 05-13-2011, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

http://www.wireshark.org/ is your friend when you are trying to answer question like this.

But, I doubt there is any private info being sent. I doubt the start up even send your current version... it just asks the web site "what's the current version" and compares the response with the currently running version number.

BOb

It sends a Unique ID (see the Calibre stats page), No other Identifying info.
The stats just counts 'Starts' for each system.

kovidgoyal · 05-13-2011, 03:39 PM

calibre will never send any information about the books you read to anybody.

user_none · 05-13-2011, 03:50 PM

Get books: Only sends the search query. IP address is also sent but that's a given. It doesn't even send your OS to the store. Unless you happen to use Gentoo Linux ;-)

Personal info will never be collected, made accessible, or sold to anyone.

Starson17 · 05-13-2011, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barium

Edit: After some searching, I see that the developers of calibre were offended by a recent question about this issue. I have the greatest respect for everyone who contributes to the project, and I do trust the application and developers. Still, I am curious and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I don't think there was any offense to the question itself, it was more that accusations were made that something was being hidden. The code is open and you are free to ask. The collected statistics that I know about are public:

http://status.calibre-ebook.com/recipe_stats
http://status.calibre-ebook.com/

I completely agree that it's reasonable to ask what's being sent, what's being kept, etc.

Manichean · 05-14-2011, 03:15 AM

If you want to know what's being sent, have a look at the source.

05-13-2011, 02:40 PM	#1
barium Connoisseur Posts: 96 Karma: 20572 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: None	privacy related questions Does the new eBook store search send any information to booksellers about you and the contents of your calibre library? (I mean beyond basic information necessary to complete a search, like the book title you enter and your IP address.) Is there a plan to grant booksellers or advertisers any sort of access to the contents of calibre libraries? Also, on startup, calibre checks for updates and (I think) transmits your current version for storage and analysis. Does it collect any other information? [Edit: question was humorously answered in this thread; answer is an unequivocal no.] Edit: After some searching, I see that the developers of calibre were offended by a recent question about this issue. I have the greatest respect for everyone who contributes to the project, and I do trust the application and developers. Still, I am curious and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. Last edited by barium; 05-13-2011 at 03:11 PM.

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05-13-2011, 02:52 PM	#2
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	http://www.wireshark.org/ is your friend when you are trying to answer question like this. But, I doubt there is any private info being sent. I doubt the start up even send your current version... it just asks the web site "what's the current version" and compares the response with the currently running version number. BOb

05-13-2011, 03:39 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	calibre will never send any information about the books you read to anybody.

05-13-2011, 03:50 PM	#5
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	Get books: Only sends the search query. IP address is also sent but that's a given. It doesn't even send your OS to the store. Unless you happen to use Gentoo Linux ;-) Personal info will never be collected, made accessible, or sold to anyone.

05-14-2011, 03:15 AM	#7
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	If you want to know what's being sent, have a look at the source.