Your privacy is at risk with certain e-Book Readers!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by incogneato

I think you naysayers are missing an important point in that chart: info on everything in your e-Book reader can be sent to these companies. Obviously no one is going to give a crap if some company knows that you buy lots of books from author X. I know it's standard procedure to criticize EVERYTHING on the internet, but at least read the freakin' link before replying.

Read the article. Incomplete.

Now. Tell me, exactly, what the problem is if Amazon knows everything I have on my reader.

Also........since you do not own an ebook reader, exactly what is your interest?

Again.......there is no such thing as "privacy" in todays world, regardless of where you live. No way, no how.

Please tell us you don't believe there is.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by rcuadro

But I look good in my tin hat

No............you look good in your snowman hat!

[rcuadro]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

No............you look good in your snowman hat!

How about this one?

[netseeker]

He! This thread is about hats and not about the EFF's article!

....wait....

This thread about the EFF's article and not about hats. Please stay on topic.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by netseeker

He! This thread is about hats and not about the EFF's article!

....wait....

This thread about the EFF's article and not about hats. Please stay on topic.

Speaking of hats, the CIA was using mind control beams to make me want to go on a picnic. I lined my hat with a paper plate and the beams stopped.

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Speaking of hats, the CIA was using mind control beams to make me want to go on a picnic. I lined my hat with a paper plate and the beams stopped.

Hm...i see. Are you sure that the paper plate helped and the beams stopped? How can you be sure about that?

Anyway, where is a ebook reading device or the EFF in that story?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by netseeker

He! This thread is about hats and not about the EFF's article!

....wait....

This thread about the EFF's article and not about hats. Please stay on topic.

Do you not see the huge "H" on my hat?

Care to guess what it stands for?

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Read the article. Incomplete.

Now. Tell me, exactly, what the problem is if Amazon knows everything I have on my reader.

While I think some of the privacy paranoia is overblown, I can address this one.

Problem if Amazon knows what I have on my Reader (if I had a Kindle etc etc): None. Amazon does not care what I read, except to be able to better target book ads for me, which is mostly to my advantage.

Problem if Amazon turns that info over to (1) gov't officials, (2) corporations who want to sell me something, (3) third-party agencies working for "the people," (4) academic, scientific or religious organizations with an agenda: potentially massive.

(1) The gov't could decide I'm a potential terrorist because I have Atlas Shrugged on my reader--after all, the protagonists seek to bring the downfall of the United States. More possibly, if I were already on some kind of alert-list (for, say, political activism in my youth, or just for being married to my husband, who AFAIK is still forbidden to return to the state of Florida), the contents of my Reader could be used as an *excuse* to claim I'm a potential terrorist (between the Rand, Doctorow, and my XKCD collection, any gov't analyst who got past the slash collection would probably be horrified).

(2) I don't want to face more targeted advertising. I don't want my family harassed by organizations trying to sell us stuff. I don't want to wade through more gimmicky offers of "free trial offers" that you have to shut off by writing to the head of the company, on parchment, in Farsi, or you get the lifetime subscription package.

(3) This is the one that worries me the most. I have a lot of fanfic on my reader. A lot of slash fanfic. A lot of very explicit slash fanfic. I don't want the details of my reading habits gone over by some organization that thinks such writing is "evil" and they must "protect the children from porn." Which my kids don't have access to. But some people believe that, if there's explicit content in the house, that house is unfit for children. And some of those people work for social service agencies.

(4) I don't want my reading habits skewed to "prove" some agenda or another; I don't want them used to indicate that middle-aged women have no purchasing power (because most of what's on my reader is free books) or that non-Christians are perverts (see pt. 3) or that office workers prefer 80's music (I have a few songlists on my reader), or any other whacked conclusion one could get by claiming that the contents of my reader indicate (1) the entirety of my reading habits and (2) deeply important things about my lifestyle.

None of those is a horrifically pressing concern. Believing that any or all of those is really what's going on, is paranoia. But they're all at least somewhat plausible, and tie into security breaches/misuses we've seen in other venues.

I think giving a corporation access to your private reading material, and the ability to collect data about it, is troublesome; it's reasonable to be concerned about it. It's reasonable for people who are concerned about one or more of those aspects (or something else I didn't cover, perhaps involving financial data that doesn't matter to me 'cos I have no finances to speak of) to want to avoid Kindle/Nook/Sony Daily to avoid the problems that can come with giving wireless access to one's book collection.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

None of those is a horrifically pressing concern. Believing that any or all of those is really what's going on, is paranoia. But they're all at least somewhat plausible, and tie into security breaches/misuses we've seen in other venues.

I think giving a corporation access to your private reading material, and the ability to collect data about it, is troublesome; it's reasonable to be concerned about it. It's reasonable for people who are concerned about one or more of those aspects (or something else I didn't cover, perhaps involving financial data that doesn't matter to me 'cos I have no finances to speak of) to want to avoid Kindle/Nook/Sony Daily to avoid the problems that can come with giving wireless access to one's book collection.

and, its none of their damn business what you read.

[Nathan Campos]

My answer is little, but direct: Of course not!

[Barcey]

Wow rapid aggressive apathy, that's impressive.


Certainly a polite redirect to the previous post on the subject would have been sufficient for a first time poster.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by purl4peace

Frankly, your privacy is at risk when you purchase physical books or if you use your public library. Libraries are required to keep track of what books you have checked out and turn those over to federal authorities if asked. And they aren't allowed to tell you. I believe it is part of the Patriot Act.

Privacy is a complete illusion at this point.

Only if you accept it. You didn't hear about the librarians that refused to turn it over and were called radical militants.

http://boingboing.net/2009/10/15/rad...itant-lib.html

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

While I think some of the privacy paranoia is overblown, I can address this one.

Problem if Amazon turns that info over to (1) gov't officials, (2) corporations who want to sell me something, (3) third-party agencies working for "the people," (4) academic, scientific or religious organizations with an agenda: potentially massive.

Okay......you make sense on those points.

Does this mean you never use those "loyalty" cards the supermarkets hand out also?

Cause if you do.........every purchase you make is recorded and followed.

Do you belong to Costco or Sam's? Ditto.

Do you buy anything from Amazon? triple ditto.

All your purchase history "could" be sold to the agencies you quoted also.

Credit card companies are notorious for selling data.

The point I"m trying to make, is that no matter what you do, unless you live in a cave, and leave no paper trail whatsoever, ........you're data, history, everything is out there.

'shrug. Its too late to be worrying about 'privacy'.

[incogneato]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

...

Great post Elfwreck.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Okay......you make sense on those points.

Does this mean you never use those "loyalty" cards the supermarkets hand out also?

Yes, but they get my cell phone number from two phone's ago. Likewise they get my address from when I lived 500 miles away. Amazon gets to ship everything to my Mother's house (different last name), and I use my first initial not full name.

Credit Cards, I'm not really worried about. So they know I spent $53.98 at Spanky's Ribs? They don't know WHAT I bought unless they talk to Spanky.

Being slightly proactive gives me slightly more privacy.