It is done, Amazon account deletion request sent

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Can the data be deleted? I doubt it. There are financial transactions that would need to be preserved for accounting and taxation reporting obligations, and those transactions still need to be linked to the purchaser and payment method, so I doubt anything would be deleted. Hidden, yes. Deleted, no.

I think a certain amount of information has to be retained as you say, but I think information like your card number and email address are wiped off, obviously I can't expect Amazon to wipe data they have to retain by law, but I would expect them to wipe off any other data.

[Frogm4n]

There are exemptions to GDPR data deletion for several record keeping or technical reasons. It's not got the kind of teeth that people think it does. It's not an instant and full removal. I've done some data deletion requests for my company so I've had to look it up and even something as simple as maintaining the integrity of backups is an exemption. The data might be removed from the live DB, but will still exist in any backups that included it. And, as was mentioned, maintaining the integrity of financial transaction records for FATF and AML compliance.

[Ebookus]

I have to say that I agree with Graham44, it is just a shop, nothing else. The amount of mental gymnastics and "what ifs" suggested for keeping an account open are baffling to me. Personally I am not deleting my account (mainly due to audible and ebooks) but I have made the conscious decision to only purchase stuff from Amazon if I can't find it elsewhere.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

I would think that Amazon could keep a record of "I sold an ebook for $8.99 on this date" (along with other non user data. I'm not sure why they would need to keep "user data". If I pay cash for a candy bar at a B&M does the shop need a copy of my ID for tax purposes?

FWIW, I'm in the U.S.

I like Am Amazon having a record of what I purchased where I can access it. There have been times I've wanted to purchase something I've previously bought.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by John F

That doesn't sound very "official" to me.

What's not official about that?
It is a record in your account, that Amazon created, that has the details of all your orders (transactions), certainly if you dig down into each specific order.

It doesn't get much more official than that.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Graham44

Amazon is just a company, there isn't anything on Amazon I couldn't buy somewhere else instead.

Is that so. I am afraid I have some bad news for you. Many ebooks are only available via Amazon. They aren't available at any other ebook store. Partly this is due to the exclusivity of Kindle Unlimited, but not just that.

Originally Posted by Graham44

I don't know whether it's clever marketing on Amazons part or maybe a cultural thing but I truly don't understand where this fear of leaving Amazon comes from.

From my perspective, it certainly isn't a fear, it's about not throwing out the baby with the bath water. It's about not burning your bridges unnecessarily.

Originally Posted by Graham44

They are just a shop, a shop with a terrible reputation, nothing more, nothing less.

Indeed, they can be a bit that way. But I don't see it as simple as that.

Originally Posted by Graham44

As for my leaving not making a difference to Amazon, no of course it doesn't but that's not why I left, it's having something called principles, something that people used to put more stock in. Amazon are operating in a way I personally think is wrong, I don't like the ethics of the company so why would I support them?

You can still achieve that by not buying anything further from them.

Take me, I don't buy anything from Amazon unless I absolutely have to, because other options are not available to me. Even then, I may still avoid using them if I wish ... depends on how much I want something.

Whether we like it or not, most providers of product see Amazon as having the largest customer market, and often their livelihood can depend on that.

Originally Posted by Graham44

I asked for my account to be deleted for simple safety reasons, I don't want my details left with a company I won't be using anymore, just good housekeeping to my mind

You can believe that if you want. But if they are truly what you believe them to be, you are already compromised.

As they say, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

There's a bit of irony here, because I am not a fan of Amazon at all, but here I am kind of defending them ... though I'm not really, and in 3 months or 6 months etc, I may no longer be using them myself. I will however keep my options open though and access to my records. I see that as being smart, despite how I emotionally feel about Amazon.

It's not about fear, it is about control.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Is that so. I am afraid I have some bad news for you. Many ebooks are only available via Amazon. They aren't available at any other ebook store. Partly this is due to the exclusivity of Kindle Unlimited, but not just that.

Of course, but it's not like there aren't plenty of other books available. I can't imagine someone feeling an urgent need to buy only Amazon exclusives.

[el_vandragon]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Of course, but it's not like there aren't plenty of other books available. I can't imagine someone feeling an urgent need to buy only Amazon exclusives.

In general I agree with you but some genre's (at least LitRPG) seem to primarily be self published through KDP Select and put on KU which means they end up being Amazon exclusive. Sometimes they get a physical release but I have read a lot of series that have not, it is a shame to have to stop reading a large portion of a genre by avoiding Amazon. Also if you have started a series that is exclusive it would be unfortunate to have to drop it, but I would consider these to be edge cases and not the norm so for most people I don't think it would be an issue.

For LitRPG a lot of them at least are web serials so you can sometimes read the latest chapters on a platform such as RoyalRoad but the chapters get taken down for KU when published so if you are not caught up then there isn't much you can do.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Is that so. I am afraid I have some bad news for you. Many ebooks are only available via Amazon. They aren't available at any other ebook store. Partly this is due to the exclusivity of Kindle Unlimited, but not just that.

Take me, I don't buy anything from Amazon unless I absolutely have to, because other options are not available to me. Even then, I may still avoid using them if I wish ... depends on how much I want something.

That's true, there are only Amazon exclusive books,but that's alright there's millions of other books out there, I won't miss the Amazon Exclusive ones (others might I understand that)

I see what your saying but I choose to put my principles, ethics whatever you want to call before my consumerist desires on this issue. Everyone has to draw a line somewhere with companies they deal with, whether that line is based on ethics, price etc we surely all have a point where we would say 'I don't like X so I'm not dealing with Y anymore'? This just so happens to be my line with Amazon. If we didn't companies could end up just running roughshod over us and we would roll over and except it.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Timboli

What's not official about that?
It is a record in your account, that Amazon created, that has the details of all your orders (transactions), certainly if you dig down into each specific order.

It doesn't get much more official than that.

When I think "official", I think of the government.

Timboli (or anyone else who knows the details), if one lives in the EU, and one requests their account be deleted (and their data), what would be left in Amazon's Records?

From a google search:

To delete your Amazon account and exercise your right to erasure under GDPR, go to the "Close Your Amazon Account" page, sign in, review associated products and services, select a reason, confirm, and verify your request within 5 days via email or text

[Quoth]

Who audits compliance?

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Of course, but it's not like there aren't plenty of other books available. I can't imagine someone feeling an urgent need to buy only Amazon exclusives.

For sure, but it isn't always that easy.

A standalone book, may not be an issue unless you really like the author, but when you follow a series or are waiting on a sequel, then choices get very much harder.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by John F

When I think "official", I think of the government.

Well I don't think about it that way.

We are talking about Amazon, and anything related to them by them would be official, unlike something third party.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Graham44

I see what your saying but I choose to put my principles, ethics whatever you want to call before my consumerist desires on this issue. Everyone has to draw a line somewhere with companies they deal with, whether that line is based on ethics, price etc we surely all have a point where we would say 'I don't like X so I'm not dealing with Y anymore'? This just so happens to be my line with Amazon. If we didn't companies could end up just running roughshod over us and we would roll over and except it.

I don't see it as principles and I certainly have my own.

As with everything, I try to apply logic & reason.

And like many I do not like Amazon, and while I might consider the leadership bad or evil, there would be a lot of Amazon employees, the greater majority, that aren't. Likewise for most of the vendors who provide via Amazon.

In fact, Amazon may be the only outlet (store front) for many vendors.

Do you see yourself as bad or evil or all of us other customers, who purchase or purchased from Amazon?

Here's an example of what I had to do a few years ago, back when I bought our first Kobo devices, for my wife and I. We bought those devices locally in a physical store. As with all such devices, they need decent protection, especially from impacts.

The sort of decent cover I had in mind, was only available via online and through Amazon.

I wasn't prepared to compromise on the protection, but I was prepared to compromise on purchasing from Amazon, which I admit was pretty rare for me, ebooks aside.

And that in the end is what it is really about ... compromise. With most stuff in life you often have to do some kind of compromising.

It is whether you go beyond that, is where I see principles and ethics and morals become factors.

Alas we live in a dog eat dog world, and decisions can often be tough to make.

P.S. I just finished reading a crime fiction novel that was mostly focused on organ transplants, and the terrible decision a mother had to make in regard to her 15 year old daughter, when it came to illegal transplant operations. What wouldn't you do for your child. I've always believed in doing the right thing, but boy what a horrible situation to find yourself in.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by Timboli

I don't see it as principles and I certainly have my own.

As with everything, I try to apply logic & reason.

And like many I do not like Amazon, and while I might consider the leadership bad or evil, there would be a lot of Amazon employees, the greater majority, that aren't. Likewise for most of the vendors who provide via Amazon.

In fact, Amazon may be the only outlet (store front) for many vendors.

Do you see yourself as bad or evil or all of us other customers, who purchase or purchased from Amazon?

Here's an example of what I had to do a few years ago, back when I bought our first Kobo devices, for my wife and I. We bought those devices locally in a physical store. As with all such devices, they need decent protection, especially from impacts.

The sort of decent cover I had in mind, was only available via online and through Amazon.

I wasn't prepared to compromise on the protection, but I was prepared to compromise on purchasing from Amazon, which I admit was pretty rare for me, ebooks aside.

And that in the end is what it is really about ... compromise. With most stuff in life you often have to do some kind of compromising.

It is whether you go beyond that, is where I see principles and ethics and morals become factors.

Alas we live in a dog eat dog world, and decisions can often be tough to make.

No need for the 'mental gymnastics' as someone else said (I like that phrase ) You do not need to justify to me (or anyone else) why you purchase from Amazon, plenty of people do and it's none of my business (or concern) if you do.

My posts are simply stating why I won't (and pointing out as just a general aside for everyone that there are alternatives to Amazon for most things but maybe not all) just because I won't use Amazon anymore doesn't mean no one else should, equally just because you choose to use Amazon doesn't mean everyone else has to, choose whats best for you