Amazon removed books from my Kindle

[Canis_lupus]

Originally Posted by odamizu

The reason (or one reason) Amazon does not automatically delete library loans is that any notes and highlights you make on a library loan are saved so that if you borrow the book again or decide to purchase it, the notes and highlights will still be there. However if you permanently delete the record of the loan, your notes and highlights will be lost.

A few days ago I downloaded a library book, made notes and highlights, synced them to the Amazon cloud, returned the library book and deleted the book from my Digital Content. So far the notes and highlights are still in read.amazon.com/notebook.

I’m still leary of deleting library books that I want to keep my notes and highlights.

What I dislike about library books is I can’t do a search in my Digital Content of an author that I have both purchased and borrowed and get the results to show only the books that I have purchased. Filtering to purchased books (Books - Purchases) and then doing the search shows both and then filtering again to purchased books looses the search results.

[dielsalder]

Necro-ing this thread because I have just had the same issue as OP.

I have never touched Kindle Unlimited nor had library loans on my Kindle. I went on a trip and put the device on airplane mode for about a month, and when I came back all of my non-Amazon books (sideloaded via USB) except the one I was currently reading had gone poof.

Clearing filters didn't fix the issue. I connected my Kindle to my computer to check the data, and I confirmed that the ebook files themselves were deleted. I've lost all my highlights, notes and reading progress from dozens of books.

I found multiple threads on Reddit where people are experiencing the same issue (books deleted after connecting to internet after weeks/months in airplane mode):

Thread 1

https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/14il149/all_the_books_transferred_from_calibre_have/?share_id=71e38VHuX6BtA4ZhaX9GH&utm_content=1&utm_ medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source= share&utm_term=1]Thread 2

I've retransferred the books, but I am an EXTREMELY unhappy customer. Does anyone know what's happening?? Is this a one-off bug or a new anti-DRM thing?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by dielsalder

Does anyone know what's happening?? Is this a one-off bug or a new anti-DRM thing?

No one knows at this point. It's been going on for a while. The only solution seems to be keeping wifi permanently off.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No one knows at this point. It's been going on for a while. The only solution seems to be keeping wifi permanently off.

It;s not the only solution. Another solution is to buy a Kobo and give up using your Kindle.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by dielsalder

Necro-ing this thread because I have just had the same issue as OP.

I have never touched Kindle Unlimited nor had library loans on my Kindle. I went on a trip and put the device on airplane mode for about a month, and when I came back all of my non-Amazon books (sideloaded via USB) except the one I was currently reading had gone poof.

Clearing filters didn't fix the issue. I connected my Kindle to my computer to check the data, and I confirmed that the ebook files themselves were deleted. I've lost all my highlights, notes and reading progress from dozens of books.

I found multiple threads on Reddit where people are experiencing the same issue (books deleted after connecting to internet after weeks/months in airplane mode):

Thread 1

https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/14il149/all_the_books_transferred_from_calibre_have/?share_id=71e38VHuX6BtA4ZhaX9GH&utm_content=1&utm_ medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source= share&utm_term=1]Thread 2

I've retransferred the books, but I am an EXTREMELY unhappy customer. Does anyone know what's happening?? Is this a one-off bug or a new anti-DRM thing?

I've had it happen once over a year ago but never again. It's not a repeat issue that I've seen. Hopefully it's not a new DRM thing like Spotify does.

[TheSmitty]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It;s not the only solution. Another solution is to buy a Kobo and give up using your Kindle.

I am one of those that has both Kindle and Libra 2. Oddly enough, I use both. I love the physical buttons.....anyway... if Kobo would ever provide something like WhisperSync between their books and their audiobooks I would completely switch within a heartbeat. Of course if Amazon ever introduces a new device with physical buttons that might keep me.

[Lutraa]

My Paperwhite will remain in airplane mode permanently from now on. I gave Amazon a piece of my mind about the unauthorized deletion of content, which included my own creative writing, along with reference documents I had converted from other formats for use when I am traveling far off grid, as is common here in Alaska.

I choose not to use Amazon's cloud to store and download such content, as is my right. I own the Kindle device and if I wanted to use it merely as a large external drive, I have every right to do this without Amazon meddling in my decision by eliminating anything that didn't originate on its servers.

Of course I have all the originals in Calibre but am livid about having lost reading progress, notes, and other metadata in the intrusive purge. If there is an easy hack to permanently disable the WiFi antenna, I'd love to hear about it.

I left a scathing review of my Paperwhite at Amazon, and was incredulous when they actually published it! I urge others to do likewise, if only to warn new owners of the perils of letting Amazon see what you have stored on your device in the privacy (so you thought) of your home.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Lutraa

If there is an easy hack to permanently disable the WiFi antenna, I'd love to hear about it.

If the PaperWhite does not know any of the logins/passwords to connect to your WiFi (or any other WiFi), then it effectively is in permanent airplane mode even if you accidentally turn on its WiFi radio.

My PaperWhite is permanently in airplane mode on the device, and the device doesn't know any WiFi passwords to any networks, and my home router is set to unceremoniously dump any network connections to/from my PaperWhite's MAC address. So I have a fallback to the fallback to keep it offline. "Layers of protection" is the name of the game in network security.

[Lutraa]

Thanks haertig! This solution is so obvious it escaped me -- I was thinking of hardware hacks, not of just deleting my login credentials. Off now to do just that.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Lutraa

This solution is so obvious it escaped me

If I remember what I did in this regard, I'm thinking that in order to change (or delete) the WiFi password you have to take the thing out of airplane mode. And this would expose it to an internet connection - which is what you are trying to avoid in the first place. To prevent this, you can disable your router that it currently knows how to connect to - disconnect its WAN cable, or turn off it's power. Or just carry the PaperWhite down the street to where it is not in range of your WiFi. That should allow you to safely exit airplane mode so you can delete the password. I cannot remember if this is what I did, it was so long ago. Possibly I just changed my routers WiFi password instead. In this case, the PaperWhite would still have a WiFi password in its memory, but it would be the wrong password, thus useless.

I cannot remember which of these two routes I took to disable the PaperWhite's WiFi password. It was many years ago.

[Sirtel]

I just ditched Kindles altogether. No one deletes your books from a Kobo and if you happen to turn on wifi and get an update you don't like, it's very easy to downgrade. Plus there are various patches making the device ask your consent before updating. Of course you can leave your Kobo in the permanent airplane mode and update manually, if you want (I mostly do that).

[JSWolf]

Kobo does not delete any content when you have WiFi on. You cannot say that with Amazon.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Kobo does not delete any content when you have WiFi on. You cannot say that with Amazon.

And you can only say Kobo doesn't do that, until they do.

People used to think Amazon would never delete anything either ... until they did.

Security is a proactive concept, not a reactive one. Don't wait until something has already happened to you before you take steps to protect yourself from it, if it's a plausible potential future occurrence. And seeing other companies do it definitely makes it plausible that your company might do it too.

[aeluon]

Unfortunately, this happened to me last night. Saturday we left out of state to spend time with the family over the holidays. I did not connect the Oasis to any wifi while out of state. I used my Kindle Oasis on Sunday night in the hotel without issue. We returned home yesterday morning and when I went to read at night discovered that:

1) All my sideloaded books using Calibre were removed
2) All my downloaded Amazon books were removed
3) All my book progress appears to be reset (Kindle books I have read now show up as unread)

Amazon support did not really care and did not have any solutions to offer. I will be moving to a different e-reader - this is wholly unacceptable.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

And you can only say Kobo doesn't do that, until they do.

People used to think Amazon would never delete anything either ... until they did.

Security is a proactive concept, not a reactive one. Don't wait until something has already happened to you before you take steps to protect yourself from it, if it's a plausible potential future occurrence. And seeing other companies do it definitely makes it plausible that your company might do it too.

As I have multiple backups of my books and I don't highlight/take notes, I'm not really worried if Kobo will do it some day or not. I can easily reload my books. Of course, from that day on I would never switch wifi on again (I do it very seldom anyway). The main advantage of the airplane mode for me is to avoid updates I might not like. Again, not a concern with a Kobo, as you can go back to a previous firmware any time.