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Adobe's Digital Editions Collecting Less Data, Says EFF
itwbennett writes Tests on the latest version of Adobe System's e-reader software shows the company is now collecting less data following a privacy-related dustup last month, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Adobe was criticized in early October after it was discovered Digital Editions collected metadata about e-books on a device, even if the e-books did not have DRM. Those logs were also sent to Adobe in plain text. Digital Editions version 4.0.1 appears to only collect data on e-books that have DRM (Digital Rights Management), writes Cooper Quintin, a staff technologist with the EFF.
What gives them the right to collect any data on how we USE the books?
I know we use data oddly in the language, but are we discussing discreet points of it, or does the quality of this data suffer?
I suppose "data" is "sand" and we don't count sands, but it still irks me.
Chrome has a read built in. Firefox too? There's no reason to use Adobe Reader AFAICT and hasn't been for at least a couple of years.
Collecting less than it did before? Collecting less than too much? Exactly where is and decides the defining line? I do... by not using adobe... well, anything. My devices are much happier for it.
So they are only spying on you when you read DRM'd books.
It is like the entire content industry wants people to choose piracy.
o Piracy means no one else knows what/when/where and how long you read/watch/listen to something
o Piracy means no worries about losing access to something you paid for
o Piracy means no lock-in to single devices or single manufacturer "ecosystems"
Even if pirated content wasn't cost free and commercial free, all the other ways these guys want to fook me over for the privilege of paying them money is enough to drive anyone to pirate.
don't confuse the pdf viewer (Reader) with the program to purchase and borrow digital books (ADE)
Chrome has a read built in. Firefox too?
Both of which in my experience are flakey as hell. For example right now Chrome will display the print preview on any PDF as a blank page. There is nothing wrong with the PDF and it will print fine but you can't see it. I've had an assortment of problems with both browser's PDF readers. Chrome especially tends to break things on a semi-regular basis in our company necessitating workarounds. Chrome sometimes will display a PDF and sometime forces you to download it with no rhyme or reason why. I'd say it was just my experience but the other folks in my company tend to see pretty much the same bugs at the same time.
Not saying Adobe Reader is great or anything but at least it works in spite of its other warts. I'm optimistic that the browsers will work out the kinks in due time but they don't work properly 100% of the time just yet.
Adobe is going to get exactly one single data point from me: I open a DRMed book in Adobe Digital Editions. However, I then strip the DRM and read the book in the PDF or ebook viewer of my choice. But ADE DRM has been cracked for so many years it baffles me while it is still used at all.
Of always just downloading all my reading material from The Pirate Bay.
Erh, people actually -use- Adobe DE for any other legitimate purpose besides stripping out that damn DRM on an ebook?
Didn't know it was useful for any other reason...
-> I dislike sigs...
Libraries use it to lend e-books. ALA was pretty ticked when it was brought to their attention. According a poll I can't seem to find at the moment libraries and museums are some of the only institutions still trusted today. http://www.ala.org/news/press-...
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
The article just says that data is sent less often and that it's encrypted.
Help build the anti-software-patent wiki
I work at a library, and Adobe's log server has been in our firewall for a while now. It's a violation so blatant that it actually went up a few layers of management for a change.
First, data is plural. Should be 'one datum point'. You wouldn't say you shot one elephants in your pajamas, would you?
Second, this system should be collecting zero data points, because no one should use it. You may laugh at the onion on my belt, but it once was in fashion, and no corporation or government knows when or what books I read, or to whom I lend them. Until the same can be said of eBooks or digital editions, such systems are broken and not fit for any use.