Comments on: Privacy: How much should Amazon and others collect on your reading habits? And would you pay extra for privacy? http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/privacy-how-much-should-amazon-and-others-collect-on-your-reading-habits-and-would-you-pay-extra-for-privacy/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:28:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Al http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/privacy-how-much-should-amazon-and-others-collect-on-your-reading-habits-and-would-you-pay-extra-for-privacy/comment-page-1/#comment-755168 Al Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:40:51 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/04/05/privacy-how-much-should-amazon-and-others-collect-on-your-reading-habits-and-would-you-pay-extra-for-privacy/#comment-755168 I met a couple cruising in their sailboat in Hawaii. We were told that we were supposed to report to the Harbormaster our whereabouts, even though we might me 30 miles away and no transportation was available. I went to the office and inquired why they wanted the data. They said "In case we need to contact you in an emergency". I then inquired as to how many of these notices they had had in the last 5 years. None. Did they track people arriving by airplane. No, of course not. I refused to fill out the form. My friend, who had escaped from Communist Russia by crawling through the snow and into Greece said, "Guard your freedoms because if you do not you will lose them!" If I discover that my data are being reported back to Amazon from my Kindle, I will turn off the whispernet permanently. I think they would be incredibly stupid to do so without our knowledge. Look at what happened to Sony with their rootkit! I met a couple cruising in their sailboat in Hawaii. We were told that we were supposed to report to the Harbormaster our whereabouts, even though we might me 30 miles away and no transportation was available. I went to the office and inquired why they wanted the data. They said “In case we need to contact you in an emergency”. I then inquired as to how many of these notices they had had in the last 5 years. None. Did they track people arriving by airplane. No, of course not. I refused to fill out the form. My friend, who had escaped from Communist Russia by crawling through the snow and into Greece said, “Guard your freedoms because if you do not you will lose them!”

If I discover that my data are being reported back to Amazon from my Kindle, I will turn off the whispernet permanently. I think they would be incredibly stupid to do so without our knowledge. Look at what happened to Sony with their rootkit!

]]> By: derrell http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/privacy-how-much-should-amazon-and-others-collect-on-your-reading-habits-and-would-you-pay-extra-for-privacy/comment-page-1/#comment-754224 derrell Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:58:23 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/04/05/privacy-how-much-should-amazon-and-others-collect-on-your-reading-habits-and-would-you-pay-extra-for-privacy/#comment-754224 This is the reason that I won't buy a kindle. It is too easy for them to set the thing up to report back what I'm reading when I'm reading it and how. Most people will say that is just simply harmless. Why could I possibly be concerned with companies collecting data about me? The short answer is they don't need to know anything about me that I don't volunteer, and I shouldn't have to volunteer personal information to do business with most of them. Something like an insurance company does have a right to some of my personal information, withing reason. A book publisher, or television service provider does not. Companies or the U.S. government don't need to know these things about me. In the case of the businesses all they need to know is that I'm willing to pay for their product. They might like it if I write them a note and tell them what I think about their product, that would be my choice. They do not under any circumstances need access to information that I don't provide freely. As for the government they should be even more closely controlled as to what information they can obtain about someone. The greatest possibility for abuse, in my opinion is from the government. While the issue here is about e-books it is these small steps and chipping away at our personal lives that is a problem. It is the death by a thousand cuts method. Each tiny slice doesn't seem overly painful until you realize one day that you are bleeding from head to toe and it is too late to do anything about it. Maybe I'm just a touch paranoid but it seems to me that it is getting entirely too easy for everyone to know things about my personal life that, quite honestly is just none of their business. I say that as I post a comment on website. Didn't say I had to be logical about my privacy just paranoid about it. This is the reason that I won’t buy a kindle. It is too easy for them to set the thing up to report back what I’m reading when I’m reading it and how. Most people will say that is just simply harmless. Why could I possibly be concerned with companies collecting data about me? The short answer is they don’t need to know anything about me that I don’t volunteer, and I shouldn’t have to volunteer personal information to do business with most of them. Something like an insurance company does have a right to some of my personal information, withing reason. A book publisher, or television service provider does not. Companies or the U.S. government don’t need to know these things about me. In the case of the businesses all they need to know is that I’m willing to pay for their product. They might like it if I write them a note and tell them what I think about their product, that would be my choice. They do not under any circumstances need access to information that I don’t provide freely. As for the government they should be even more closely controlled as to what information they can obtain about someone. The greatest possibility for abuse, in my opinion is from the government.

While the issue here is about e-books it is these small steps and chipping away at our personal lives that is a problem. It is the death by a thousand cuts method. Each tiny slice doesn’t seem overly painful until you realize one day that you are bleeding from head to toe and it is too late to do anything about it.

Maybe I’m just a touch paranoid but it seems to me that it is getting entirely too easy for everyone to know things about my personal life that, quite honestly is just none of their business. I say that as I post a comment on website. Didn’t say I had to be logical about my privacy just paranoid about it.

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