Quote:
Originally Posted by geneven
One interesting thing I learned about Amazon's policies is that you can not waive your right to download a book that you have purchased even if you want to.
I bought a book from Amazon that I'd just as soon not have listed forever on my account. So I wrote to Amazon and asked if they would delete it -- it was ok with me if I could no longer download it. Amazon refused.
So, for the rest of my life, that book will be available to government snooping if, say, a court order is issued for that information. As you know, if I had purchased the same book in a bookstore, I would not even have had to identify myself when making the purchase, so I would not have to worry about being identified as an owner of the book.
In some hypothetical intolerant government of the future, be it left-wing or right-wing, my purchase could be of interest. This is something to keep in mind when dealing with Amazon. Amazon keeps a permanent record of your purchases and will not ever protect your privacy to the extent of getting rid of the information it has on you, even if it doesn't need that information.
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That is a very good point you make and a bit scary. Very 1984ish. It is extremely unfortunate that things have progressed to a point in todays world where I can't dismiss your view and ideas off as paranoia. In fact, this is becoming more and more a reality. Only recently, the FBI declassified a lot of information regarding how they data mine through tens of thousands of records to identify potential terrorist threats.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/fbi-nsac/
It is not inconceivable that governments could issue warrants to retailers like Amazon for their records to help further such data-mining projects (who knows if they already have). If the US government could have warrantless wiretaps, I'm sure this isn't too far away from reality.
Who knows, if I bought a copy of Mein Kampf, I might somehow end up on a watch list for being a potential skinhead? I think it is very important for people to be more aware of privacy issues in todays world (like the op). Of course, these companies (Amazon, Google, etc) will probably try to protect your interests but the fact remains that if they are to do business in any nation, they will have to abide with the laws in that country. So if the government asks them to hand over their records via legal means, chances are they won't put up a big fight for your rights. Just some food for thought.