Warning Added to Library Borrowed Kindle Ebooks

As previously noted, you can borrows ebooks from the library for the Kindle reader or Kindle apps. You can even cleverly extend the due date on a borrowed Kindle ebook. So it’s about time that Amazon and Overdrive warned borrowers that Amazon has access to your library record. They’ve added a warning dialog. I say they because while I think it’s Overdrive, it could be the local library; I honestly can’t tell, and both parties have declined to respond to inquiries.

It’s not clear, really, in terms of what they have access to; mostly it just states you’re leaving the library’s site and going to an unnamed third-party site that does not share the library’s privacy policy.

I wish they’d tell people up front that Amazon gets your email, the title and associated metadata of the book you are borrowing, and the due date, and that Amazon will email you to tell you that the book is due in X days (usually 2) and offer to sell you a copy. I also wish that they required you to opt-in, or at least offer an opt-out.