Retailer Data on Readers - Useful or Creepy?

[charlesatan]

via http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012...ers-and-learn/

– Barnes & Noble learned that while novels are generally read all the way through, non-fiction is read in parts and readers often quit non-fiction books before finishing.

– Kobo found that George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons (the fifth book in his popular Game of Thrones series, Random House) was a particularly engaging book: Most readers read it from start to finish at an average speed of about 50-pages an hour.

– Amazon has data on readers’ bookmarks, notes, annotations and highlighted passage. The company wouldn’t share specifics with WSJ. The Journal did, however, point out that Amazon is in a unique position to put this data to use as it’s both a retailer and a publisher.

More info from the link and their source (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...051438304.html).

Just wondering though: do readers find this data-gathering useful or creepy (or conflicted as you're somewhere in between)?

[Giggleton]

Interesting data about the 5th book of Thrones, considering that the opinion on this forum seems to be that Mr. Martin began phoning it in on book 4. I might have to start the series now...

All data is useful.

[JoeD]

I was aware that amazon could misuse the bookmark/sync data they get from their user's kindles if they so wish. They could do all sorts of profiling depending on how often that data is updated, who knows what they'll do once it's on their servers (can't trust any company not to put any/all data to marketing uses these days)

Out of interest though, does Kobo/B&N devices have similar functionality? If not are they actually gathering this data specifically with/without users consent?

I find it annoying rather than creepy (but no longer surprising) that companies continue to obtain data to provide one service, then use it without consent for other reasons, be it statistics, marketing, advertising... IMO data should be used only for the purpose of providing an exact feature to their customer. If they want to use it for additional purposes, it should be opt-in. If enough people don't opt-in, offer incentives.

[Draculaa]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Who would have thought?

Quote from article below.

EFF has pressed for legislation to prevent digital book retailers from handing over information about individuals' reading habits as evidence to law enforcement agencies without a court's approval. Earlier this year, California instituted the "reader privacy act," which makes it more difficult for law-enforcement groups to gain access to consumers' digital reading records. Under the new law, agencies must get a court order before they can require digital booksellers to turn over information revealing which books their customers have browsed, purchased, read and underlined. The American Civil Liberties Union and EFF, which partnered with Google and other organizations to push for the legislation, are now seeking to enact similar laws in other states.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by JoeD

I find it annoying rather than creepy (but no longer surprising) that companies continue to obtain data to provide one service, then use it without consent for other reasons, be it statistics, marketing, advertising... IMO data should be used only for the purpose of providing an exact feature to their customer. If they want to use it for additional purposes, it should be opt-in. If enough people don't opt-in, offer incentives.

The thing is that we don't really know how any data will be useful at a future point. For instance, suppose an algorithm is developed that can take all of our reading data and recommend another book to us that we will highly enjoy?

[DiapDealer]

Why choose? It can be both creepy and useful.

[JD Gumby]

"Retailer Data on Readers - Useful or Creepy?"

Excessively creepy. Once sold, they have absolutely no need whatsoever, under ANY circumstances, for additional data.

[Belfaborac]

Creepy, but easily avoided. Turn off Wi-Fi, sideload everything.

[RainingLemur]

More creepy than useful.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

The thing is that we don't really know how any data will be useful at a future point. For instance, suppose an algorithm is developed that can take all of our reading data and recommend another book to us that we will highly enjoy?

That's pretty much what Amazon does with that data, along with the data they have about what you look at on their website. Knowing what books someone reads, how fast, and when they are due to finish one (and therefore need to buy a new one) is very valuable information.

I can't see Amazon deliberately sharing that information with anyone. That doesn't mean it will never become public knowledge though. And the way things are going with copyright paranoia it's not beyond the realms of fantasy that Amazon might one day be forced to hand over data on the DRM status of high profile publications.

[fjtorres]

Unavoidable fact of modern life.
(shrugg)
Everything you do, every service you use, tracks you.
Everything goes on your permanent record. Just ask Mr Finch's Machine.

For all the concern over government going all Big Brother on us, the reality is we all willingly surrender to a thousand little brothers in the name of better customer service, product discoverability and recommendations, outright convenience.
Even our games track us: XBOX achievements, Sony Trophies, whatever Nintendo calls their copy of the same idea--they all track and record our progress through our games. The XBOX even reports to you how many games you complete, how many you abandoned, and all that data is stored on the XBL cloud. Theoretically, if they wanted to, they could feed the aggregate data to software developers so they can tell what works and what doesn't in the specific games. Not sure if any do but if they don't, they should; it would make their future games better.
At this point the real news isn't that our toys and services track us, but rather than anybody thinks it news.
That's life on the internet: of course, somebody is watching!!
(Lots of 'em.)
If you don't like it, go elsewhere.
(What? You got something to hide?)

[fjtorres]

Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_...est_(TV_series)

"You are being watched. The government has a secret system: a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because... I built it. I designed the machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything. Violent crimes involving ordinary people, people like you. Crimes the government considered irrelevant. They wouldn't act, so I decided I would. But I needed a partner, someone with the skills to intervene. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret. You'll never find us, but victim or perpetrator, if your number's up...we'll find you."

Mr. Finch

David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle said "Person of Interest separates itself from the gimmick pack, not only because of superbly nuanced characterization and writing but also because of how it engages a post-9/11 sense of paranoia in its viewers."

They're not the only ones stoking the fires of paranoia for fun and profit but they're one of the few who'll admit to it.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

The thing is that we don't really know how any data will be useful at a future point. For instance, suppose an algorithm is developed that can take all of our reading data and recommend another book to us that we will highly enjoy?

Then the next time you log into the site, you get a nice screen appearing saying

"Get better ebook recommendations, tailored to your preferences. Tick the box below to opt-in to this service.

This service works by using data collected by yada yada"

As it happens, that's already occurring with your browsing history and purchase history on amazon and other stores. A feature I wish was opt-in.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Unavoidable fact of modern life.
(shrugg)
Everything you do, every service you use, tracks you.
Everything goes on your permanent record. Just ask Mr Finch's Machine.

I love that show!

I've had to trade off a large amount of anonymity just because of work I've been involved in, and things I've chosen to do. I do have my boundaries, of course, but I have to be honest with myself about how much of my life is actually private. But then, I'm a little odd in this regard. What I am willing and not willing to share with the world is probably different than most people. I also compartmentalize - I rarely share all of me with any one person. While this may seem unrelated to the topic, it shapes my feelings about things like reading data.

Also - WHY someone wants to know something is often more important to me than WHAT they want to know, and "what they could do with it" is contrasted with "what they are likely to do with it". A nosy neighbor is creepier to me than Amazon collecting my reading habits. Statistically, the neighbor is more likely to cause me grief than Amazon.

All that said, I can't remember the last time I turned on the wifi on either of my ereaders because I prefer long battery life, so good luck to them getting any further than purchase data.

[KindleChickie]

If amazon had the ability to write a book about what Timothy McVeigh read, would you buy it? How about what 9-11 hijackers? Or the Kardashians? Or Fmr. Pres. Bill Clinton?

I guess it is hard for me to understand the big brother implications when I have never been targeted for malicious prosecution/persecution. And I am not criminal or extremist.

I recently was subjected to a search of my purse after a traffic stop. The officers made fun of me for having 2 kindles and actually browsed my kindles to ridicule me. It hurt my pride but in the scheme of things was harmless. I don't care if they saw what I read.