That’s right. It is my impression that many people reading
literature over the newfangled devices do not have any idea that they may
have traveled back 28 years to 1984. While it may not be Big Brother looking
over your shoulder, it may be even creepier than Big Brother. These guys might
make real use of the data being collected.
I’m not trying to be an alarmist here; just my effort at
sounding the Paul Revere and passing on what I have been able to gleam from
what I understand about the situation.
No, Not that one, the other one!
The information I would like to pass along comes from an
article published in the Wall Street Journal the other day entitled “Your
E-Book Is Reading You”: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304870304577490950051438304-lMyQjAxMTAyMDIwODEyNDgyWj.html
Interesting,
ver-r-r-r-y interesting!
It seems that if you are using a iPad, Kindle or Nook to
purchase and read books or projects off those available from the internet
suppliers; what you have done is being monitored. Every time you revisit the
supplier’s web site they are updating minute bits of data on what you have
accomplished on your reading device.
The article states (from Nook as an example) “Data collected
from Nooks reveals, for example, how far readers get in particular books, how
quickly they read and how readers of particular genres engage with books. Jim
Hilt, the company's vice president of e-books, says the company is starting to
share their insights with publishers to help them create books that better hold
people's attention.”
Mr. Hilt further states “that the company is still in
"the earliest stages of deep analytics" and is sifting through
"more data than we can use."
So, just what is it that they want from you?
The second paragraph is very revealing as to what they might
pull from what is being recorded every time you take out your Kindle and begin.
1 – do you skip the introduction?
2 – do you stop after three pages and never come back?
3 – how fast do you read?
It goes on and on.
They are looking for the point that you become bored in
certain genre books and will be trying to come up with a hook that will keep
you interested, whether you want to stay or not. Maybe it’s a movie trailer of
what’s exciting ahead—anything to hook you.
The article further points out that Amazon knows what part
of a book the readers like best and actually highlight.
The watchdogs are out and preparing for battle as we discuss
the situation. Here’s an excerpt:
“"There's a societal ideal that what you read is nobody
else's business," says Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for consumer rights and
privacy. "Right now, there's no way for you to tell Amazon, I want to buy
your books, but I don't want you to track what I'm reading."”
This photo from the Wall Street Journal article just
fascinates me:
Photo credit – William Duke
Look back over your shoulder—is anybody watching? Maybe all
you have to do is look straight ahead—there they are!
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