Amazon deleted 135 documents off my Kindle without telling me they did it. The documents no longer exist, not on the Kindle, and not in the cloud either. I was offered $10 as compensation.

83  2016-09-30 by rabbits_dig_deep

The docs did not relate to politics and were not my only copies but I think it sets a dangerous precedent. I didn't find out about it until months after it happened.

I was told they were deleted because of a policy change, that they no longer allow you to use the Kindle Cloud Reader for anything other than books purchased from Amazon. That doesn't explain though why they were also removed from the Kindle itself, or why no one, AFAIK, was given any notice. So there must have been millions of people who lost documents.

I haven't heard anyone else mentioning this so possibly the rep I talked to is misinformed. I will call back and try to get a better answer.

EDIT: I use the Kindle almost entirely for reading PDF documents that I've converted into Kindle documents using the "Send to Kindle" app. For books, I buy the old fashioned kind with paper pages, something that can never disappear.

What I don't understand is, if this was a policy change that had them deleting billions of documents from millions of Kindle users, why isn't anyone else talking about losing documents? I can't be the only one.

Thanks for the suggestions about Calibre. Will check it out.

27 comments

28  SadMemberBerries 2016-09-30

The clue is in the name. It's digital book burning and they're hiding their intentions in plain sight.

14  rabbits_dig_deep 2016-09-30

Oh shit you're right! I never thought of that.

2  911bodysnatchers322 2016-09-30

Glad people are waking up to this idea.

17  ButtRichard 2016-09-30

THIS IS WHY I STILL BUY BOOKS.

12  TokinRing 2016-09-30

THIS IS WHY I STILL DOWNLOAD PDFS.

1  411011 2016-09-30

This is why I have 4 tb of videos

12  ParanoidFactoid 2016-09-30

Remove kindle drm. Convert to epub with Calibre. Problem solved.

8  Tir 2016-09-30

http://calibre-ebook.com/ is a free open source eBook manager that will write to your Kindle and keep it all under your control. Been using it for years and love it.

7  EuroTrash69 2016-09-30

There is no cloud, there are only other people's computers. Keep your own backups.

6  Darth_Vorador 2016-09-30

That happened to me with George Orwell's works I shit you not!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

5  rabbits_dig_deep 2016-09-30

Even creepier is the prospect of a book being surreptitiously edited, with "minor" deletions or edits that we may never notice.

4  911bodysnatchers322 2016-09-30

like this?

http://boingboing.net/2011/10/11/mixtape-of-the-lost-decade.html

3  MKULTRAserialkillers 2016-09-30

Someone sent me a link to a "new, improved" version of 1984 that was released. I can't find the article now but I swear they actually did that.

1  MKULTRAserialkillers 2016-09-30

I heard of that!! Alkso, Netflix does not carry the best version of 1984 (made in '84) for streaming or delivery. It's also difficult to find online- mostly the just have the inferrior '50's version.

I wonder why.

3  [deleted] 2016-09-30

[deleted]

3  perfect_pickles 2016-09-30

the small Kindles are ebooks for reading, what people store and read on them is up to them.

the DX kindle is or was targeted at people using larger format texts, pdfs and so on.

1  pro_spiracy 2016-09-30

I'm still waiting for a good full size full color eink reader. I hate reading for long periods on a glossy screen. I had high hopes for the JetBook, but it didn't work out.

2  baeareafundevil 2016-09-30

Keep your shit on external drives. Take it out of the closet and update it once a week. Print out anything you would need post-collapse.

2  random_dent 2016-09-30

Thanks for reminding me to back up my kindle.

1  [deleted] 2016-09-30

Were the docs sensitive rabbit? Not that it matters, but would they have an interest in your docs? I am hearing reports of google docs disappearing too. I know some people that have sensitive data and others that don't...

2  rabbits_dig_deep 2016-09-30

Nothing sensitive about them.

1  MKULTRAserialkillers 2016-09-30

Thank god someone still buys books. I think it's clever how you transfered the PDF's to your kindle... too bad they screwed you over.

Get 'em back

1  Bigcats30 2016-09-30

don't update it....ever.....its that simple

1  Hillaryrapesbabies 2016-09-30

This is why you pirate what you want..

0  NecrosedVales 2016-09-30

Do people really own/use kindles?

-1  sheasie 2016-09-30

i am sure that was part of the service agreement that you "agreed to".

live and learn ?

-4  KiltedSith 2016-09-30

Why is everyone acting like this is some evil conspiracy? We know what happened.

I was told they were deleted because of a policy change, that they no longer allow you to use the Kindle Cloud Reader for anything other than books purchased from Amazon

A corporation figured out a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of their customers. That's all.

Seriously did everyone capable of rational thinking abandon this sub? One person posts about some PDFs being removed, not deleted as OP said the documents were not stored on the Kindle, and it's a digital book burning?

OP signed up for a service and that service has changed its TOS. Why the hell is this getting upvoted?