Amazon captures, distributes, annotations

dwallbaum · 09-21-2010, 07:05 PM

Gentlefolk;

I have never claimed to be the brightest font in the Kindle library, but I recently bought a book and found it had annotation marks all through it. Baffled, I finally broke down and contacted Amazon Customer Support. Here is what ACS replied:

=============================
Hello,

If you see passages marked with a Grey dashed underline in your reading, these
are the book's Popular Highlights. Amazon displays Popular Highlights by
combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages
with the most highlights.
If you have a Kindle device, you can choose not to have your highlights included
in Popular Highlights by turning off Annotations Backup in Settings on your
device. If you have a Kindle App, we will be adding this capability soon.
Annotations Backup backs up your annotations and last page read and syncs them
across devices.

You can learn more about Popular Highlights in our Help pages here:

http://www.amazon.com/help/kindlepopularhighlights

I hope this information helps. We look forward to see you again soon.

==============================

Is this "feature" commonly known? Am I the only one who thinks Amazon has gone a service too far??

Don

desertgrandma · 09-21-2010, 07:07 PM

This info is in the users guide, and I don't see a problem with it.

Its not like their giving out personal information.

I keep mine turned off because I don't care what others find "popular"

rcuadro · 09-21-2010, 07:09 PM

I have noticed it, and like DG said, it is in the user guide.
I though it was neat initially but then I thought it a distraction

susan_cassidy · 09-21-2010, 07:14 PM

I can't imagine why Amazon thought I would care what other people highlight! Most of the time, when I highlight something, it's because it is a typo.

SensualPoet · 09-21-2010, 07:17 PM

*ahem* This is a feature, not a bug. You can easily turn off highlights. Over time, this will be a pretty interesting feature for those reading (or re-reading) favourite authors.

kindlekitten · 09-21-2010, 07:19 PM

yeah, I find it annoying myself

RDaneel54 · 09-21-2010, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

yeah, I find it annoying myself

Ditto. One of the first things I turned off on my new Kindle.

sirmaru · 09-21-2010, 07:50 PM

I like to see what others highlight especially in my Bible reading.

I have made some interesting discoveries that way. I don't mind sharing my highlights either.

Viseguy · 09-21-2010, 11:49 PM

I think it's kind of neat to be able to see what passages other people find interesting in a book that I'm reading. (It would bother me if the highlighting couldn't be turned off, but since I know it can be turned off, I'm okay with it.) The underlining is very faint; I don't find it distracting.

Tiersten · 09-22-2010, 12:03 AM

Amazon aggregates all the various highlights by everybody that has that book from the Amazon store who also have share highlights enabled. All that is shared is literally which segments you've got highlighted. Your annotations aren't shared at all. You don't know who highlighted a particular segment either.

I don't see it being a privacy issue since you can disable it and there is no personally identifiable information being shared. Personally I have it off because its just distracting.

Pushka · 09-22-2010, 12:42 AM

The webversion of all your own highlights is an incredibly good reference feature, and I think this doesnt function when you turn annotations off?

aquawater · 09-22-2010, 12:42 AM

There are always pro and cons with annotations.. Just like annotations in youtube...some people misuse it to put some links, promotion, and annoying remarks.
But there are times where annotation is really helpful and describe something better.
Don't flame Amazon just because of a feature that you don't like.

P.S. I don't work for Amazon and I don't have my K3 yet....

Tiersten · 09-22-2010, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquawater

There are always pro and cons with annotations.. Just like annotations in youtube...some people misuse it to put some links, promotion, and annoying remarks.
But there are times where annotation is really helpful and describe something better.

Annotations are private. You'd just be spamming yourself. It is just highlights that are shared.

aquawater · 09-22-2010, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiersten

Annotations are private. You'd just be spamming yourself. It is just highlights that are shared.

What's wrong with u.. I am just sharing my thoughts. Yes I get it wrong, highlight and annotations are different. Sorry I don't have K3 yet.
But why accuse me of spamming.

HarryT · 09-22-2010, 07:29 AM

Nobody's accusing you of spamming

. The previous poster said that IF Amazon were to distribute peoples' annotations, then that would be a form of spamming. But they don't do so.

09-21-2010, 07:05 PM	#1
dwallbaum Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 77 Join Date: May 2009 Device: Kindle2	Amazon captures, distributes, annotations Gentlefolk; I have never claimed to be the brightest font in the Kindle library, but I recently bought a book and found it had annotation marks all through it. Baffled, I finally broke down and contacted Amazon Customer Support. Here is what ACS replied: ============================= Hello, If you see passages marked with a Grey dashed underline in your reading, these are the book's Popular Highlights. Amazon displays Popular Highlights by combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages with the most highlights. If you have a Kindle device, you can choose not to have your highlights included in Popular Highlights by turning off Annotations Backup in Settings on your device. If you have a Kindle App, we will be adding this capability soon. Annotations Backup backs up your annotations and last page read and syncs them across devices. You can learn more about Popular Highlights in our Help pages here: http://www.amazon.com/help/kindlepopularhighlights I hope this information helps. We look forward to see you again soon. ============================== Is this "feature" commonly known? Am I the only one who thinks Amazon has gone a service too far?? Don

09-21-2010, 07:50 PM	#8
sirmaru Wizard Posts: 2,426 Karma: 6561538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Kindle PW 2013, HDX 2013, Galaxy S5 2014	I keep it ON I like to see what others highlight especially in my Bible reading. I have made some interesting discoveries that way. I don't mind sharing my highlights either.

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09-21-2010, 07:07 PM	#2
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	This info is in the users guide, and I don't see a problem with it. Its not like their giving out personal information. I keep mine turned off because I don't care what others find "popular"

09-21-2010, 07:09 PM	#3
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	I have noticed it, and like DG said, it is in the user guide. I though it was neat initially but then I thought it a distraction

09-21-2010, 07:14 PM	#4
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I can't imagine why Amazon thought I would care what other people highlight! Most of the time, when I highlight something, it's because it is a typo.

09-21-2010, 07:17 PM	#5
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	ahem This is a feature, not a bug. You can easily turn off highlights. Over time, this will be a pretty interesting feature for those reading (or re-reading) favourite authors.

09-21-2010, 07:19 PM	#6
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	yeah, I find it annoying myself

09-21-2010, 11:49 PM	#9
Viseguy Just a kid from Bklyn Posts: 135 Karma: 4448 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle 3 Wi-Fi; Samsung Galaxy Tab 7	I think it's kind of neat to be able to see what passages other people find interesting in a book that I'm reading. (It would bother me if the highlighting couldn't be turned off, but since I know it can be turned off, I'm okay with it.) The underlining is very faint; I don't find it distracting.

09-22-2010, 12:03 AM	#10
Tiersten Guru Posts: 987 Karma: 8641 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3G+WiFi	Amazon aggregates all the various highlights by everybody that has that book from the Amazon store who also have share highlights enabled. All that is shared is literally which segments you've got highlighted. Your annotations aren't shared at all. You don't know who highlighted a particular segment either. I don't see it being a privacy issue since you can disable it and there is no personally identifiable information being shared. Personally I have it off because its just distracting.

09-22-2010, 12:42 AM	#11
Pushka Wizard Posts: 1,119 Karma: 1019140 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Australia Device: kindle, Ipad, Iphone, Nexus and PPW	The webversion of all your own highlights is an incredibly good reference feature, and I think this doesnt function when you turn annotations off?

09-22-2010, 12:42 AM	#12
aquawater Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: iPad 2	There are always pro and cons with annotations.. Just like annotations in youtube...some people misuse it to put some links, promotion, and annoying remarks. But there are times where annotation is really helpful and describe something better. Don't flame Amazon just because of a feature that you don't like. P.S. I don't work for Amazon and I don't have my K3 yet....

09-22-2010, 07:29 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Nobody's accusing you of spamming . The previous poster said that IF Amazon were to distribute peoples' annotations, then that would be a form of spamming. But they don't do so.

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