Kobo e-readers collect telemetry on your sideloaded books, and there's no official way to opt out
Your Kobo Knows Every Book You've Ever Read
https://github.com/seandheath/koboctlOpen linkView original on literature.cafeSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on literature.cafehttps://github.com/seandheath/koboctlOpen linkView original on literature.cafe
48 replies
Side loaded meaning just loading epubs through calibre?
Can't I just turn off wifi? Like, what's the point?
what’s the point of what? Yes you can turn off wifi to keep them from collecting telemetry, but that's not an ideal solution.
What is the point of wifi on an e-reader? I've never once in 10 years used wifi on my e-readers. Simply turning it off is a much more realistic solution than asking somebody to install a new OS to their device.
Then you’re paying more for fewer features. Plus, no one is asking you to install a new OS. Telemetry is the manufacturer’s problem to solve, not something customers should have to deal with.
The post is literally a link to custom kobo OS.
It's not an OS
RSS feeds, OPDS, wallabag
I used this one click package to install the other readers, as for telemetry I have Wifi turned off unless I do updates and I am not signed in.
https://github.com/NiLuJe/kfmon/
They don't collect info on sideloaded books.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360224
Well. I got a kobo because of the easy aideloading. Got lazy and just started buying through their store.
Had a exit strategy of keeping it offline and sideloading everything with calibre. Guess it's time to go down that route
If you are willing to keeping it offline and sideloading everything with calibre, why not use an open source one instead?
Option 2) Use QuillOS/Inkbox (they changed their name and I don't remember which is the new name). FOSS OS for many Kobo devices
Oh I need to check this out! Thanks!
This is super interesting! I've been using KOreader forever, but this looks cool. According to the last post on mobiread, the dev is still working on it for Kobo. Has a new update coming soon. I'm intrigued.
It’s so easy! It’s a great decision
Doesn't that kinda kill the point of a Kobo? I mean you can sideload everything with Calibre on a Kindle and on other readers.
i thought Kindle was stopping you side loading on newer Kindles ?
I think there was some confusion when they switched to the MTP protocol, but afaik sideloading via USB still works.
https://www.androidauthority.com/2024-kindle-sideloading-3494778/
I haven’t turned the internet on on mine for over 2 years now lol
Mine basically never connected again after Pocket was shut down. I feel like the only one around who didn’t think it was another Mozilla bullshit project, it was neat to bookmark some longer reads and then have them offline on an ereader.
i have multiple times my Color 2 because it was buggy as fuck (I bought it on release) and they added a nice fix for an issue.
I'd open the device to keep reading a book and it would be at some random page and not that page I had closed it at, this seems to have been fixed and it was super annoying going back 100 pages to find where I was at.
When the device was put down with the cover folded back, you could not start it again without moving the cover aside to get to the power switch, they fixed this by letting to use a page turn button as a power switch if it was switched off, excellent fix for an an annoying problem.
I had (and still have and learned to live with it) this issue where out of nowhere when I flip one page, the device goes on a rampage and starts mad flipping next pages very quickly. It would throw me off by at least 10 - 15 pages then the only way to stop it is to lock the device. Go back in and start hunting for where I was. It’s so annoying. One update didn’t fix it, so I gave up.
Why are they doing this and why is it important?
I guess it depends on how much you value your own right to privacy. If you don’t mind being deprived of it, then sure, it’s not important.
I would like to know as well. Maybe they need it to grow? Everyone around me still uses Amazon and Kindles unfortunately and don't even know about Kobos existence until I mention it. Even then people are afraid of change. Or somehow its really hard.
https://literature.cafe/post/35302198/21661156
Maybe simply to get better recommendations on their stores?
The tone of the post and the comments make it seem pretty negative. I’m more wondering why it’s a bad thing I guess.
Typical .world dude
Yes let's give more power to the panopticon
I don’t understand. Explain why this bad, it’s a genuine question.
I won't engage in a conversation with an EE (ECE) who walks around privacy@ and yet spouts such a disingenuous inquiry. A guy who has experience in the workforce shouldn't need a wake-up call about bad corporate practices. At least in theory.
Wow, I feel like I was pervy glassed since I've written the text above. You never know when the person next to you is a plain hacker or even an NSA asset lol. And dumb questions can sometimes be social engineering.
Can you still get books from your library via overdrive? Any source regarding kobo ereader telemetry?
Yes, and The code is pretty self-explanatory.
If you’re interested in looking further:
Kobo’s current privacy policy says it collects reading-related usage information, including how often and for how long you consume digital content, as well as the genres, authors, and subjects you read.
Kobo’s Terms of Use contain a particularly relevant event explicitly called “Sideload,” which is described as occurring “when a user sideloads an EPUB.” So Kobo’s software does have telemetry associated with the act of sideloading.
Still getting some of my books through overdrive
You just block all Kobo’s servers from the network. Easy peasy
I have an older Kobo Glo and I always transfer books via usb. I have never connected it to the internet. Isn't that possible anymore with newer Kobos?
No, they require a login to initialize these days
I got one just in June. I've been using it for months and have never created an account. I only connect it via USB and use it to read works from Anas Archive.
My Kobo Clara HD had a hard reset that after starting up required an account, there have been reports of this going back for years. Which model do you have?
It's a Koba Libra Color. I can't recall if I've had to do a hard reset or not, but so far at least I've been able to use it without an account.
Are you sure the method described in your link doesn't work? I'm seeing other sources saying it does: https://yingtongli.me/blog/2018/07/30/kobo-rego.html
I don't remember exactly how I did it but I have a Clara 2e and was able to bypass the login requirement by editing the sqlite file, I have never put in a wifi password
I think it depends on what you want. You only need to do the SQL lite thing if you want to be able to access the store and overdrive, probably a few other features.
If you don't care about any of that, you just open the .conf go to the [ApplicationPreferences] section and add the line
SideloadedMode=true
Then you're good to go. This worked on my Kobo Clara BW and my old Libra h2o (which I miss so much).
If you want to keep going from there then nickelmenu, koreader.
Ah, that might have been how I did it actually, I don't use those other features
The method took me doing it twice for it to work, but I wouldn't consider it an obvious option. There was previously just a skip/do it later.
Yeah it is scummy that there is no option in the UI
Shame, guess my next ereader will be an open source one.
Not to be a menace, but do you have a specific source on the claim that that it collects telemetry on sideloaded books? In the Github link there's a line that says it "locks down telemetry" without elaborating further, I couldn't see anything else about it in the docs and a quick web search doesn't bring up anything about Kobo collecting telemetry on side-loaded books.
It'd just be nice to properly verify before I do anything.
The code is pretty self-explanatory.
If you’re interested in looking further:
Kobo’s current privacy policy says it collects reading-related usage information, including how often and for how long you consume digital content, as well as the genres, authors, and subjects you read.
Kobo’s Terms of Use contain a particularly relevant event explicitly called “Sideload,” which is described as occurring “when a user sideloads an EPUB.” So Kobo’s software does have telemetry associated with the act of sideloading.
https://github.com/seandheath/koboctl/blob/main/internal%2Fhardening%2Fhosts.go#L20
the code at the very least works, and blocks trackers including google analytics, google ad tracking and hotjar behavior analytics. presumably this would happen in the default OS and initiated when clicking on (and maybe even turning pages on) any book, including sideloaded ones. I assume this doesn't work in koreader regardless of whether you disable those domains or not. If you want you can always contact the author.