Privacy in the Age of the E-Reader

1. W H O ' S R E A D I N G O V E R
Y O U R S H O U L D E R ?
Privacy in the Age of the E-Reader
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2. Reading is a solitary and
private act
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"...an intimate exchange
between the reader and the
words on the page" [1]

3. “To escapeinto a book
and know that no one is
watching” [2]
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4. E-READERS NOW PROVIDE
READERS WITH A LIBRARY
OF BOOKS AT THE TOUCH
OF A FINGER [3]
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5. E-Readers
80%
20%
E-BOOKS MAKE UP
BETWEEN 15 AND 20
PERCENT OF ALL
TRADE BOOK SALES [4]
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e-Book Sales

6. WITH E-READER USE ON
THE RISE, IS READING
STILL THE PRIVATE ACT IT
ONCE WAS?
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7. E-readers “gather an astonishingly detailed portrait
of our book-reading habits: what we buy, what we
browse, the amount of time we spend on a page
and even the annotations we make in an ebook” [5]
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8. “IF WE CAN HELP AUTHORS
CREATE EVEN BETTER BOOKS
THAN THEY CREATE TODAY, IT'S A
WIN FOR EVERYBODY.” [1]
JIM HILT
VICE PRESIDENT OF E-BOOKS,
BARNES & NOBEL

9. If data collection is
helping build better books,
What's the concern?
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10. "The e-Book means giving up more
privacy than browsing through a physical
bookstore or library, or reading a paper
book in your own home" [6]
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11. With every finger swipe and page turn, your
e-reader analyzes your actions, leaving an
electronic trail behind you [5]
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12. The electronic trail left by e-book users is
potentially profitable for publishers, and can
be used as government surveillance [5]
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13. In 2008, a student at Nottingham
University downloaded the al-
Quaida training manual from a US
government website while
researching counterterrorism for
his PhD studies
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He was detained for 7
days and subjected to a
police investigation [5]

14. This surveillence
"erodes the privacy
that is necessary to
enjoy our
freedoms" [5]
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15. HOW WILL E-READER DATA
COLLECTION AFFECT AUTHORS?
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16. The information collected on consumer e-book
reading habits is being shared with publishers and
editors [2]
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17. The e-Reader data-
driven approach
could "hinder the
kinds of creative risks
that produce great
literature" [1]
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18. Created by kiwikashif - pixabay.com
"Will mystery writers be scolded (and
perhaps dropped from their publishers’
lists) because a third of their fans didn’t
even stick around long to enough to learn
who committed the murder?" [1]
"Will authors be urged to write
the sorts of books that the
highest percentage of readers
read to the end?" [1]

19. What is currently
in place to protect
e- reader privacy?
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20. The California Reader Privacy Act:
"Mirrors the strong privacy and free
speech standards that are already in place
and extends them to digital books and
electronic reading records" [7]
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21. FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE
VULNERABILITY OF READERS IN THE
DIGITAL AGE WOULD BE
RECOGNISED IN STATUTE
[5]

22. Created by Kaboompics - Freepik.com
How will the data-
driven approach
affect the age of the
e-reader?
Only time will tell.
However, steps must
be taken to ensure
that privacy as a
fundamental freedom
is protected.

23. References
1-Alter,A.(2017).YourE-BookIsReadingYou.WSJ.Retrieved24February2017,from
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304870304577490950051438304
2-Prose,F.(2017).They’reWatchingYouRead.TheNewYorkReviewofBooks.Retrieved24
February2017,fromhttp://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/01/13/reading-whos-watching/
3-Twyla,M.,Johnson,K.A.,&Rossi-Williams,D.(2012).E-Readers:PoweringUpfor
Engagement.EducationalLeadership.Retrieved24February2017,from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/jun12/vol69/num09/E-
Readers@_Powering_Up_for_Engagement.aspx
4-Jabr,F.(2017).TheReadingBrainintheDigitalAge:TheScienceofPaperversus
Screens.ScientificAmerican.Retrieved24February2017,from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/
5-Glanville,J.(2017).Readers'privacyisunderthreatinthedigitalage.theGuardian.
Retrieved24February2017,fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/31/readers-
privacy-under-threat
6-Flood,A.(2017).E-readersreadingyourreading:Aseriousinvasionofprivacy?.the
Guardian.Retrieved24February2017,from
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2012/dec/05/ereaders-reading-privacy
7- ReaderPrivacyActof2011.(2017).ElectronicFrontierFoundation.Retrieved4February
2017,fromhttps://www.eff.org/cases/sb-602-californias-reader-privacy-act-2011