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Difflugia · 12-02-2020, 12:32 PM

I certainly qualify for Jon's definition of paranoid. I don't register anything if I can find an alternative with a subjectively reasonable amount of effort.

My ebook accounts are under various fake names.
I buy ebooks using gift cards that I pay cash for at B&M stores. Incidentally, that makes Kobo a bit harder to use because most VISA gift cards in the US don't work internationally and Kobo's Canadian.
Most of my Android devices are unregistered. I have a few that are registered with fake names specifically to download apps, which I sideload onto my unregistered devices. I rarely purchase apps, but when I do, I ensure that I can remove the Google account DRM (which I mentioned some years ago in the Calibre Companion forum, resulting in similar responses to those that eeeink got here). Updating my handful of paid apps typically takes an hour or two to download new versions to the registered devices, remove the account checks, and sideload to the unregistered devices that I actually use.
My (Android) cell phone is pay-as-you-go. I buy the cards with cash at B&M stores.
I use Overdrive. As far as I know, the only information they have about me is a library card number and an email address. Since my local library knows who I am, there may be somebody that could correlate my checkouts with my real identity.
The Michigan eLibrary uses my driver's license number to verify my Michigan residence and eligibility to use it. EBSCO claims that they don't store it, but if they're lying, they know exactly who I am and what books I read. It irks me every time I sign in, but free access to several hundred thousand ebooks crosses my threshold of benefit-to-paranoia.
The only device I own that's registered in my real name is an iPad that my employer bought me as a longevity gift and registered on my behalf. I use it as a dedicated ereader with Calibre on a home network that isn't connected to the internet. I've connected it to the internet four or five times to download updates.

I'm aware enough to know that this gets me virtually nothing tangible. On the other hand, getting into the habit of electronic privacy is easier than it sounds. I personally think of it like voting; while the personal benefit to me is vanishingly small and my habits are of the kind that no governments, retailers, nor even the Mobileread morality police would care much about, I'm of the opinion that everyone should be willing to spend some effort to protect privacy in principle. Like most people's opinion of voting, If I don't do what I can, then I really don't have much standing to tell anyone else that they should value privacy more than they do.

As an aside, the only entity that I've ever noticed having any reaction to any of this is Amazon. I have had several fake-name Amazon accounts from which I used Amazon gift cards to buy ebooks. Every time, shortly after applying a gift card to the account, I received a "we don't recognize this device, please answer some security questions" kind of message. This never happens with credit-card-type gift cards or even with my real credit card (which I used, along with my real name, for physical purchases), but only with Amazon gift cards. Perhaps there's some other reason, but I can't help thinking that it's because once a gift card is redeemed, the balance is tied to the single account. The bar wasn't particularly high (I had to enter the address and phone number for each account), but if any of the accounts were to be locked, I would have lost the balance in that account for which Amazon had already been paid.

12-02-2020, 12:32 PM	#113
Difflugia Testate Amoeba Posts: 3,049 Karma: 27300000 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Many Android devices, Kindle 2, Toshiba e755 PocketPC	I certainly qualify for Jon's definition of paranoid. I don't register anything if I can find an alternative with a subjectively reasonable amount of effort. My ebook accounts are under various fake names. I buy ebooks using gift cards that I pay cash for at B&M stores. Incidentally, that makes Kobo a bit harder to use because most VISA gift cards in the US don't work internationally and Kobo's Canadian. Most of my Android devices are unregistered. I have a few that are registered with fake names specifically to download apps, which I sideload onto my unregistered devices. I rarely purchase apps, but when I do, I ensure that I can remove the Google account DRM (which I mentioned some years ago in the Calibre Companion forum, resulting in similar responses to those that eeeink got here). Updating my handful of paid apps typically takes an hour or two to download new versions to the registered devices, remove the account checks, and sideload to the unregistered devices that I actually use. My (Android) cell phone is pay-as-you-go. I buy the cards with cash at B&M stores. I use Overdrive. As far as I know, the only information they have about me is a library card number and an email address. Since my local library knows who I am, there may be somebody that could correlate my checkouts with my real identity. The Michigan eLibrary uses my driver's license number to verify my Michigan residence and eligibility to use it. EBSCO claims that they don't store it, but if they're lying, they know exactly who I am and what books I read. It irks me every time I sign in, but free access to several hundred thousand ebooks crosses my threshold of benefit-to-paranoia. The only device I own that's registered in my real name is an iPad that my employer bought me as a longevity gift and registered on my behalf. I use it as a dedicated ereader with Calibre on a home network that isn't connected to the internet. I've connected it to the internet four or five times to download updates. I'm aware enough to know that this gets me virtually nothing tangible. On the other hand, getting into the habit of electronic privacy is easier than it sounds. I personally think of it like voting; while the personal benefit to me is vanishingly small and my habits are of the kind that no governments, retailers, nor even the Mobileread morality police would care much about, I'm of the opinion that everyone should be willing to spend some effort to protect privacy in principle. Like most people's opinion of voting, If I don't do what I can, then I really don't have much standing to tell anyone else that they should value privacy more than they do. As an aside, the only entity that I've ever noticed having any reaction to any of this is Amazon. I have had several fake-name Amazon accounts from which I used Amazon gift cards to buy ebooks. Every time, shortly after applying a gift card to the account, I received a "we don't recognize this device, please answer some security questions" kind of message. This never happens with credit-card-type gift cards or even with my real credit card (which I used, along with my real name, for physical purchases), but only with Amazon gift cards. Perhaps there's some other reason, but I can't help thinking that it's because once a gift card is redeemed, the balance is tied to the single account. The bar wasn't particularly high (I had to enter the address and phone number for each account), but if any of the accounts were to be locked, I would have lost the balance in that account for which Amazon had already been paid.