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Books spying on readers

Revelations this morning that Adobe's "Digital Editions" e-book and PDF reader is spying on those who use it, sending fine-grained details of every page-turn back to a server at Adobe.com

Of course anyone with half a brain would already know that Adobe is not to be trusted with any sensitive data and that their track record in software security is nothing short of abysmal. However, this latest intrusion on the privacy of its users truly beggars belief.

As if the spying itself wasn't bad enough, the data which results from that spying is also being sent in plaintext over the internet which, as we all know, is not recommended practice. Not only will Adobe know exactly what you're reading, when and for how long but so will anyone who is able to intercept the data-packets containing that information.

But hang on... we're not talking bank account details, login passwords or credit card numbers -- so what's the big deal?

Well the big deal is that we now live in a world where governments view all their citizens as terrorists -- until proven otherwise.

What happens if, out of sheer curiosity and in a desire to see what motivates the Islamic State fanatics to undertake their heinous crimes, you decide to download a copy of the Qur'an and spend a few weeks browsing its pages.

If you'd grabbed a hard-copy from the local second-hand book store then nothing would happen and your "inquiring mind" would not raise any flags. However, to do so by downloading a copy from the Net and browsing its contents with Adobe's reader could be ringing alarm bells in security agencies all over the world.

It is not unrealistic to presume that this simple act could place you on a "watch list" such that many of your other innocent activities were subjected to close scrutiny.

Who knows... YOU could become the target of one of those armed raids that authorities around the world seem to be carrying out with increasing regularity. Just think how much fun that would be - seeing yourself and your family held at gunpoint in the dawn hours -- simply because your ebook reader narc'd on you for trying to develop and "informed" point of view on the religion of Islam.

Even if you aren't raided, you may find yourself subjected to far more intrusive and comprehensive checks whenever you decide to fly -- for fear that you may be about to blow up the plane or are visiting a foreign terror cell for training.

Yes, this all sounds fanciful - but recent events and history seem to indicate that such fears are not at all unfounded. Who'd have thought, just a few short years ago, that agents of the state, dressed in black fatigues and balaclavas would hold innocent Kiwi men, woman and children at the barrel of their semi-automatic weapons under the banner of waging "the war against terror"?

Remember that even if Adobe isn't handing over the information from those ebooks to the US government (or others), the Australian government has given itself a license to monitor any and all internet traffic that it can get its hands on and I suspect that, regardless of "the law", our GCSB has a similar policy.

Your interest in the Qur'an would almost certainly be noticed -- simply by virtue of the fact that the logging data going back to Adobe would be intercepted and analysed as a part of normal surveillance activities (aka - fishing).

So what can be done to thwart this spy that lays within the pages of our ebooks?

Well give any product from Adobe a very wide berth for a start. There are always alternatives to the company's dross and it's most likely that those alternatives are more robust, more secure and more worthy of your patronage.

A curse on your house Adobe!

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