← E-Readers
C

Kindle Scribe

Notable issues
Amazon · 🇺🇸 United States · WiFi + Bluetooth
PolicyApp PermissionsNetwork TrafficFirmwareRegulatory
Technical details
Manufacturer: Amazon

The bottom line

Amazon tracked one user's Kindle activity across 90,000 recorded interactions — every tap, every page turn — and uses it to target ads. Turning off Reading Insights hides the dashboard but does not stop the data collection. Kindle privacy settings are split across multiple menus, and even after opting out, Amazon keeps all the reading data already collected — your 90,000 interactions stay on Amazon's servers indefinitely.

Legal jurisdiction
🇺🇸 United States (headquarters)
CLOUD Act read more →
US govt can demand your data from this company even if stored overseas
FISA §702 / PRISM read more →
NSA collects stored emails, photos, messages without individual warrants
Geofence warrants read more →
Police can demand location data for everyone near a crime scene
Spying
0/4 N/A
Is someone spying on me?
Data Sharing
0/4 N/A
Who gets my data?
Security
0/4 N/A
Is it actually secure?
Honesty
2/4 MODERATE
Can I trust what they say?
ACCEPTABLE Moderate concerns. Standard privacy hygiene applies.
2Contradictions
0Critical
1High
1Medium
2Sources
Findings by concern
Honesty 2/4 MODERATE 2 findings
⚡ highpolicy vs app
Amazon tracked one user's Kindle activity across 90,000 recorded interactions — every tap, every page turn — and uses it to target ads. Turning off Reading Insights hides the dashboard but does not stop the data collection.

What they claim: Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information.

What we found: Amazon Kindle Reading Insights records every page turn, tap, and session timestamp. One reporter received 90,000 rows of recorded interactions. Disabling Reading Insights hides the dashboard but does not stop data collection.

⚫ mediumpolicy vs app
Kindle privacy settings are split across multiple menus, and even after opting out, Amazon keeps all the reading data already collected — your 90,000 interactions stay on Amazon's servers indefinitely.

What they claim: Kindle privacy settings give users meaningful control.

What we found: Privacy settings split across multiple menus. Whispersync must be separately disabled. Amazon does not specify how long it retains historical reading data. Opting out of future collection does not trigger deletion of existing record.

What happened to real people
Documented incidents involving Amazon products and user data.
Ring employees spied on customers through bedroom and bathroom cameras. Hackers live-streamed customers' videos. 8-year-old girl contacted by hacker through bedroom camera. $5.8M FTC settlement. [source]
Amazon admitted giving Ring footage to police without owner consent at least 11 times in 2022. 30,000 employees had access to customer videos. [source]
What your data is worth to governments
Jurisdiction: US (CLOUD Act).
Documented: Ring employees spied on customers through bedroom and bathroom cameras. Hackers live-streamed customers' videos. 8-year-old girl contacted by hacker through bedroom camera. $5.8M FTC settlement.
Documented: Amazon admitted giving Ring footage to police without owner consent at least 11 times in 2022. 30,000 employees had access to customer videos.
What is the CLOUD Act?
Sources