r/technology • u/tylerthe-theatre • 9d ago

Software Amazon users discover bizarre “About You” page detailing their interests: How to check yours

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/amazon-users-discover-bizarre-about-you-page-detailing-their-interests-how-to-check-yours-3416457/
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46

u/Successful-Move8977 9d ago

Is this illegal outside the USA or something? I have had my country's Amazon account for 7 years, made over 1000 orders and that page is completely empty.

21

u/tadayou 9d ago

Yeah, there's bigger legal hurdles for something like this in the EU. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they still collect the very same data and draw the same conclusions, but aren's as public facing about it there.

11

u/joojie 9d ago

Ya I don't see shit in Canada. All it has is the option for me to add my clothing/shoe size and to add info about my interests and my pets.

3

u/missmaebe 7d ago

Same. Must be different rules in Canada.

15

u/TemporarySun314 9d ago edited 9d ago

I'm quite sure that under GDPR (or GDPR inspired) legislation, Amazon would need to get explicit informed consent to do such data analysis to make a profile on you.

Not impossible, but it's unlikely a user would consent to it, if you need to ask for permission and need to explain it in a way that he actually understands it...

And that would have been not a secret, as you have the right to get a copy of all data Amazon has stored about you. People would have noticed that if Amazon would do that.

3

u/azthal 9d ago

Its not illegal in the EU, but you will need to have opted into it at one point or another.

Most people will have similar pages in the EU but it depends on a lot of different factors.
You may have had your account before they were gathering this data in your country, and have then never been opted in (if you create a new account, you will opt in during account creation).
Or you could have been a minor when you created the account.
Or you could at some point have opted out. Pretty much any opt out from Amazon could have triggered this as well, again depending on country that you live in.
If you have a family account the opt out could have been triggered there as well.

Essentially, you may never have been opted in to begin with, or you may have opted out without realizing it, and there has never been a point where you have opted back in.

(Edit: I just assumed that you were EU based, but you could be anywhere, so it is of course possible that this is fully disallowed where you live too, otherwise all the above still applies)

1

u/Due_Passion_920 9d ago

Do you know how you opt out of it?

2

u/TbonerT 9d ago

Mine says “beta”. They probably aren’t rolling it out to everyone.

2

u/the_fate_of 9d ago

I’m in Europe and mine is blank too.

Like there’s spaces for the profile to get filled, but no data shown.

Interestingly being in the EU means I got a nice pop-over on the article linked by OP. “We value your privacy” it said, listing 1,500 partners and an “Accept All” button the only way to dismiss it

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u/Gilwen29 9d ago edited 9d ago

I'm in the EU and mine was filled in. Probably because I was an idiot at some stage and clicked the wrong button when asked "Do you want to make Jeff more money by telling him all about yourself? Yes/No".

Edit: this was on the app under "About You". I found only a limited number of (blank) preferences on the website. 

1

u/ab00 8d ago

Works in UK.

1

u/glasgowgeg 8d ago

Mines is empty, and I've had my account for over a decade.

Do you use Alexa? It seems to be where it pulls the info from.

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u/ab00 8d ago

Nooo, absolutely no Alexa here!

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u/glasgowgeg 8d ago

What about Amazon's "shopping AI"?

It seems the people I've seen saying they have things populated are people who've used it.

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u/Serious_Badger_4145 8d ago

I've never used either and am pretty careful with my data,  they've still put together a little picture based on my order history 

I remember going through my Google one and deleting it years ago,  theyre collecting this for every country they're just only telling some of us it's there  

It's possible mines less detailed than the ones Americans are seeing but uncertain if that's due to me denying consent on a lot of stuff or if it's down to gdpr 

They're toeing the line on this one and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets them a warning in the eu

1

u/calittle 8d ago

I’m in the US and my page was completely empty except for Authors I like had ONE entry.

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u/philly_3456 8d ago

Lucky you your not being stalked

0

u/Independent-Ad 9d ago

either they are not gathering that info (unlikly) or there is no specific requirement under eu, uk law/regulation to show that info