4 Tips to Improve Your Kindle Privacy Settings

What’s is the Kindle privacy policy? And does it protect you or just let you know that it’s using your data to target ads to you? To protect your privacy, consider making these key changes to your Kindle privacy settings.

1) Change your Kindle privacy settings.

Depending on what type of Kindle device you have,the exact process for changing each of the following security settings can vary, or your device might not even have all of these options available. You can check how to update your preferences by going to your Manage Content and Devices page. Otherwise, go to Settings and edit these permissions:

  • Devise usage data. Disabling this feature will prevent Amazon from showing you personalized ads based on your purchases. Under Settings, select Security & Privacy > Device Usage Data. For Kindle e-readers, navigate to All Settings > Device Options > Advanced Options > Privacy.
  • App-usage data. Block Amazon from viewing your activity using third-party apps by going to Settings > Apps & Games > Collect App Usage Data.
  • Location-based services. If you don’t want Amazon or other apps to track your location, turn off this feature by going to Settings > Wireless > Location-Based Services.

2) Disconnect your Kindle and Goodreads accounts.

Goodreads is a fantastic way to keep track of your TBR list and rate the books you read, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you want all of your guilty pleasure reads showing up under your Amazon account. If you use your Amazon info to log in to your Goodreads account, set up new credentials so your profile won’t be deleted, and then follow these steps to disconnect Goodreads from Amazon:

  • On your Kindle, go to Settings.
  • Open Accounts and select Social Networks.
  • Here, you can disconnect Goodreads, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

3) Remove your public Amazon profile.

Did you know that Amazon automatically created a public profile for you when you first made your account? Even if you’ve never written a product review or rated a product, your public profile still displays things like who you follow on Amazon, your public wish lists, and a range of other interactions on the Amazon platform.

To limit what other people can see on your profile, go to your Amazon account page, scroll to “Ordering and shopping preferences,” and then click “Profile.” Once your profile appears, hit the edit button to remove content and update the page’s privacy settings.

4) Make your wish lists private.

Amazon shopping lists are public by default, which can be embarrassing if you’re buying books that are a bit risqué. To double-check the privacy settings of your own Amazon lists, click on the Accounts & List menu, and select either “Shopping List” or “Wish List.” Both options will display a page that shows all of your lists and the privacy settings for each one.

To change a public list to private, simply click the list, hit the 3-dot icon, and select “Manage List.” Here, you can change its privacy and any other details you’d like.

When you think about keeping your personal information safe and secure, you probably think of creating complex passwords for your social media accounts or installing antivirus software on your computer. However, even your Kindle device can give away your data and private details including your address, payment information, location, and much more. Consider securing your Kindle account with the tips above.

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