Contrary to to popular belief, e-readers are subjected to extensive tracking. The pretext might be the same – to make personalized recommendations of books or other reading material – the fact is, all e-reader manufacturers keep a watch on what users are up to with their devices.
Apart from what you are reading, other details that the companies would like to know of you include the time you spend reading each day, how much highlighting you do on the book, and so on. Some even resort to collecting geolocation data of their users, for whatever reason that might be for. What is even more worrisome, the tracking pattern is uniform irrespective of whether it is the Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Onyx Boox, Boyue, or whatever e-reader device you use.
Fortunately, for those who’d like to keep a lid on their personal lives, there sure are ways to do so when it comes to keeping their reading habits out of prying eyes. It isn’t anything too radical either as the same Virtual Private Networks or VPNs that have been known to let you have unhindered access to almost all sites or services anywhere in the world can help keep the Amazons or the Kobos out of your reach. The books you purchase or what portions of it you highlight, none will have an inkling of what you are up to with your e-reader.
Apart from privacy, another reason to opt for a VPN for your e-reader is security, as the same will keep you off the limits of hackers. The reason that is important is evident in the manner B&N got hacked last October, something that led to their entire system to virtually crash out and remain ineffective for several weeks. It took almost a month before things started to get back to normal. Of course, the B&N hacking incident isn’t something that is under user control but anyone who connected to their servers via VPN is saved from becoming the target of the hackers. That should be reason enough to opt for a VPN connection for your e-reader. Getting started is easy, you can register for a VPN on your PC or MAC, and then use your local WIFI connection for your e-reader to connect to and you can mask your true IP, which should help. It might not stop the companies themselves from tracking your reading habits, but on an Android e-reader, this is critical. You can read here about it.
Among the other, but not too attractive option to prevent e-reader companies to spy on you, is to keep your Wifi connection off. Of course, that would lead to a less than ideal user experience, you can also put it in airplane
Also, companies do offer a device settings option to prevent them from collecting user info though those are never anything to be relied on much. What that means is, you got to switch over to a VPN connection if you wish to have the maximum protection against companies tracking your reading habits on the sly.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
