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I still prefer to buy my books from physical book stores. Having all the books I read listed in a few central databases owned by companies like Amazon makes me
by jensen123 11y ago
I still prefer to buy my books from physical book stores. Having all the books I read listed in a few central databases owned by companies like Amazon makes me uncomfortable.
However, if anyone comes up with a way to sell/rent ebooks while preserving my privacy, that would be nice, since I'm not always in a big city where there are any decent bookshops.
- codecamper 11y agoYou could use a fake identity,amazon lockers, and pay with a visa gift card -- if you want to jump through the hoops.
- LargeWu 11y agoAre you equally as uncomfortable with libraries?
- sleepyhead 11y agoWell there is a significant difference between a public library and a private company.
- witty_username 11y agoBoth store your personal data in databases.
- pbhjpbhj 11y agoTBH in the UK I wouldn't put it past my local council (who run the public library) to be selling library user data (and probably getting a low price for it too).
- ersii 11y agoFor one, libraries takes your privacy seriously. At least here in Sweden. If I recall correctly, it's because of The Library Act/Law, which stipulates that lender/reader privacy must be protected. (AFAIK It's not something that needs to be regulated, as it's generally well respected by libraries and librarians)
- jensen123 11y agoWell, if the libraries keep records of what books I've borrowed, even after I've delivered them back, then yes.
- ics 11y agoThey do, however patron records' confidentiality is generally more favorable than Amazon's privacy policies. Examples: 1. http://www.santaclaritalibrary.com/confidentiality-of-library-patron-records/ http://www.santaclaritalibrary.com/confidentiality-of-librar... 2. https://www.saclibrary.org/About-Us/Policies/Confidentiality-of-Patron-Records/ https://www.saclibrary.org/About-Us/Policies/Confidentiality...
- toomuchtodo 11y agoIt should be noted that librarians fought against the patriot act and secret court gag orders (one of the first tests of its legality) as well.
- usaphp 11y agoI always wonder what exactly makes you/people like you uncomfortable about it? Serious question.
- jensen123 11y agoIf you had a list of all the books I've read in my whole life, then that would give you a pretty good idea of what kind of person I am, and what I'm interested in. There are plenty of examples throughout history and around the world, of governments harassing people they don't like. Of course, as of right now, this kind of thing is not a huge problem in most Western countries. However, governments sometimes change, which is why it's bad to have those kinds of databases sitting there. For example, if I had lived in Chile back in the 70s and bought lots of books on socialism, I may have gotten in some serious trouble after Pinochet took over (if such databases had existed back then). Or if I had lived in Lithuania in the 30s and bought lots of books on capitalism, I guess Siberia would have been my next home, when the Soviets took over.