Clara HD Do you have to made a Kobo account?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by mirage

Those who prefer to avoid providing an email address and/or stay offline have reason to do so if these things concern them.

Kobo don't check the email. A fake one works to register.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Kobo don't check the email. A fake one works to register.

I recently ordered a Clara HD. I'll probably use a fake email to start.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mirage

Thanks for posting that. I should have looked for it. They make it pretty clear that they're tracking user activity just like so many other companies do.



Those who prefer to avoid providing an email address and/or stay offline have reason to do so if these things concern them.

You have to give your information to buy an eBook. You have to give your information to download a free eBook some shops like Amazon. You have to give your information when you download from the library (maybe twice if you want to download using an Overdrive enabled Kobo). You give have to give your information if you want to download a free eBook from Tor's eBook club. There's no way to use a Reader without giving your information to someone at some point. So what's wrong with Kobo having your information?

So why is creating an account with Kobo a problem?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mirage

I recently ordered a Clara HD. I'll probably use a fake email to start.

You do not want to do that. If you later change your mind and want a real account, you are screwed, You have to log out and log back ina nd the database on the Kobo will be reset. You will lose your data. So just create a proper account and register with that.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There's no way to use a Reader without giving your information to someone at some point.

You're just so cute when you say stuff like this.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You do not want to do that. If you later change your mind and want a real account, you are screwed, You have to log out and log back ina nd the database on the Kobo will be reset. You will lose your data. So just create a proper account and register with that.

Can I edit the database to take care of this instead of logging out and back in again?

I get your point. The sites we visit and the software we use that want to track us do. As the Google and FB claim, they know more about us than we do about ourselves, even if we don't use their products all that much, if at all, in some cases. What's the problem with adding another company to the list?

I don't really obsess that much about privacy issues given the losing battle that it is. But I take precautions where I can. I don't really want Kobo or Amazon or anyone else taking note of exactly what I read, how fast, etc. But when I watch TV, I'd expect that Comcast is tracking every last bit of it. Netflix and the like, too.

Maybe I'll give Kobo/Rakuten my email address, but stay mostly off line. Completely, if it's reasonable to do so.

As a newbie to Kobo, I'll have lots of learning to do if I'm compelled to hack/customize it, which is what I tend to do with devices. I'll find out what I like and don't like about it, where I want to or don't care about drawing lines.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mirage

Can I edit the database to take care of this instead of logging out and back in again?

I get your point. The sites we visit and the software we use that want to track us do. As the Google and FB claim, they know more about us than we do about ourselves, even if we don't use their products all that much, if at all, in some cases. What's the problem with adding another company to the list?

I don't really obsess that much about privacy issues given the losing battle that it is. But I take precautions where I can. I don't really want Kobo or Amazon or anyone else taking note of exactly what I read, how fast, etc. But when I watch TV, I'd expect that Comcast is tracking every last bit of it. Netflix and the like, too.

Maybe I'll give Kobo/Rakuten my email address, but stay mostly off line. Completely, if it's reasonable to do so.

As a newbie to Kobo, I'll have lots of learning to do if I'm compelled to hack/customize it, which is what I tend to do with devices. I'll find out what I like and don't like about it, where I want to or don't care about drawing lines.

I don't know if you could edit the database to change your account information. I'm guessing not as you would not have your Kobo registered to that account.

As for Kobo, you are not really giving them that much information. Your email, your payment information, what you bought, your web browser and operating system, IP address, name and address.

It's less information then you give your credit card company or bank.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As for Kobo, you are not really giving them that much information. Your email, your payment information, what you bought, your web browser and operating system, IP address, name and address.

It's less information then you give your credit card company or bank.

Those things don't bother me. However, as I quoted from the Kobo Privacy Policy earlier, they also track your reading choices and how you go about reading the materials you have on the device, which they then use internally with the option of selling that info to other enterprises. That's not out of the ordinary, but that doesn't mean I have to like it or fully play along.

Taking such precautions, small as they are, may be so trivial relative to what these enterprises know about us, regardless, that they're like taking a drop out of a liter of water. But they're worth being conscious of, just the same. At least for me.

That said, I'm looking forward to the arrival of the reader and seeing what I think of it and looking into the various tweaks discussed in this forum after not using an eInk device for a long time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mirage

Those things don't bother me. However, as I quoted from the Kobo Privacy Policy earlier, they also track your reading choices and how you go about reading the materials you have on the device, which they then use internally with the option of selling that info to other enterprises. That's not out of the ordinary, but that doesn't mean I have to like it or fully play along.

Taking such precautions, small as they are, may be so trivial relative to what these enterprises know about us, regardless, that they're like taking a drop out of a liter of water. But they're worth being conscious of, just the same. At least for me.

That said, I'm looking forward to the arrival of the reader and seeing what I think of it and looking into the various tweaks discussed in this forum after not using an eInk device for a long time.

And are you sure that any bookstore you buy an eBook from is not tracking what you buy? I really don't care if Kobo knows what I read. Amazon, Kobo, and Google all know what I have in the respective libraries. I've not heard of Kobo phoning home when you read side loaded eBooks. Others may know if Kobo phones home or not when you read side loaded eBook with WiFi on.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And are you sure that any bookstore you buy an eBook from is not tracking what you buy? I really don't care if Kobo knows what I read. Amazon, Kobo, and Google all know what I have in the respective libraries. I've not heard of Kobo phoning home when you read side loaded eBooks. Others may know if Kobo phones home or not when you read side loaded eBook with WiFi on.

Any online store of any size is tracking not only what I buy, but what I browse on their site. The bigger the company, the more they've got us profiled. I don't think that's a positive thing, on balance, though it certainly has its value, even to end users.

I get your point. Syncing between devices in the case of ereaders, for one thing. Location services on Google devices make map usage more powerful. Some might like it that tracking results in marketing suggestions that might meet the user's preferences. I don't really want that, but it has value to some. That's probably largely what Kobo wants to glean from its users so that it can try to sell more books and customize devices to them. I'd rather opt out of that, at least the former aspect, if I can, but I can deal with its presence.

My concerns probably come more from the fact that most of the books I will read on the device won't have been bought from Kobo. They'll have been purchased elsewhere before I entered their "ecosystem" and run through Calibre, or will be DRM-free to begin with (less often) to make them usable on the device and tweaked to improve the display or clean up errors in some cases. If I use the device enough, maybe I'll then buy from Kobo, too. Beyond that, I don't really want anyone nosing into what isn't theirs, even if there's no real harm done by them doing it on my small, personal scale.

Whether they analyze and make a note of the specifics of epub files that weren't bought from them, I don't know. Do sideloaded books get uploaded to their servers for syncing purposes and whatever other ones they might want to use them for per their Privacy Policy?

Thanks for engaging on this. I don't mean to be argumentative or veer in directions that are outside the spirit of this forum or even this thread. It seems that you have great experience in all this, which I value. I just wonder how Kobo will use the data they get out of me and whether it'll keep me in my comfort zone. If I like the device, I'll no doubt stick with it, even if I'm not fully on board with the program. It's a role I'm accustomed to playing.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by mirage

Whether they analyze and make a note of the specifics of epub files that weren't bought from them, I don't know. Do sideloaded books get uploaded to their servers for syncing purposes and whatever other ones they might want to use them for per their Privacy Policy?

The specifics of the sideloaded files are not sent and there is no syncing of information such as reading position for a sideloaded file. What they will get is the time you spend reading, the number of page flips and crash log information but nothing that I can say would identify you. You can turn this off by removing the check from "Automatically share data about the features you use" under Energy saving and privacy. I haven't managed to generate a stack_nn.log file in a while but looking back at some old ones, I didn't see anything that would be considered personal information other than the first line: OH THE HUMANITY!

[mirage]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The specifics of the sideloaded files are not sent and there is no syncing of information such as reading position for a sideloaded file. What they will get is the time you spend reading, the number of page flips and crash log information but nothing that I can say would identify you. You can turn this off by removing the check from "Automatically share data about the features you use" under Energy saving and privacy. I haven't managed to generate a stack_nn.log file in a while but looking back at some old ones, I didn't see anything that would be considered personal information other than the first line: OH THE HUMANITY!

Great! Thank you for this. That's all I really wanted to know to begin with.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by mirage

Can I edit the database to take care of this instead of logging out and back in again?

It might work. But you would need to get the details right. Probably the way to do it would be to back everything up, sign out and then sign into your account. Then take a copy of the appropriate record from the database, restore the backup and update the details for that record. It wouldn't keep any purchased and downloaded books from the first account, but, it would probably would keep the sideloaded books.

But, overall, if you have any intention of buying books from Kobo, starting with a real email address is worth it. Maybe create something just for this. And, as @DNSB pointed out, you can turn the sharing off. But, I'm happy for Kobo to know how I am using the device. Hopefully it will help them to work out how to improve it. I do make suggestions, but, if there is usage data to back it up, that will make it more likely to happen.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by davidfor

It might work. But you would need to get the details right. Probably the way to do it would be to back everything up, sign out and then sign into your account. Then take a copy of the appropriate record from the database, restore the backup and update the details for that record. It wouldn't keep any purchased and downloaded books from the first account, but, it would probably would keep the sideloaded books.

But, overall, if you have any intention of buying books from Kobo, starting with a real email address is worth it. Maybe create something just for this. And, as @DNSB pointed out, you can turn the sharing off. But, I'm happy for Kobo to know how I am using the device. Hopefully it will help them to work out how to improve it. I do make suggestions, but, if there is usage data to back it up, that will make it more likely to happen.

Thanks for the tips, davidfor. The likelihood is that I'll do it as you'd suggested, using a dedicated email address or one that I use for things like this. And I look forward to making use of your utilities plugin, too!

There's a Catch-22 aspect to this in that in order to know how I want to use the device optimally for my ways of doing things, I'd need to already know how l use it, which I won't until I use it for awhile. Ultimately, it's not that big a thing. I'll do what I do and evolve from there. I have ways I prefer to interact with devices and companies, but I don't always get what I want and accept the trade offs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mirage

There's a Catch-22 aspect to this in that in order to know how I want to use the device optimally for my ways of doing things, I'd need to already know how l use it, which I won't until I use it for awhile. Ultimately, it's not that big a thing. I'll do what I do and evolve from there. I have ways I prefer to interact with devices and companies, but I don't always get what I want and accept the trade offs.

Feel free to ask for any help you may want or need. There are a lot of us here who will gladly help as we can.