freetime stats without parental controls

[kneelb4zod]

Hey all!

I just got joined and got my KPW2 jailbroken!

I'm having a problem with kindle FreeTime. Freetime allows parents to track their kids reading habits, while automatically restricting certain types of content (wikipedia & experimental browser).

I'm working on a speed reading course, and the user data that Freetime collects is very useful to me-- stuff like how many pages I read today and how long I spent reading them.



Here's what I'm talking about:


But for some reason, Amazon has inexplicably made it so that this data is ONLY available through FreeTime. If I want to access this data, I have to jump through hoops every time I want to read, and often have to exit and re-enter freetime multiple times per reading session (I'm a compulsive Wiki checker). It gets frustrating.

I'd like to know if it would be possible to either enable Wikipedia in FreeTime, or port the Achievements/reading data into the main device UI.

Any ideas would be much appreciated; just point me in the right direction.

I searched the forums and found nothing, which is why I posted here. If this is the wrong place, let me know. If there's no easy fix... I guess I'll just have to start learning Java!

Thanks!

[knc1]

Well, perhaps if you switched from Martin to Heinlein . . . .


Have you checked if those reading habits data are being sent to Amazon or (the same thing) being kept on Amazon's cloud?

I ask because the developers concerned with privacy issues might become interested in separating this feature from Amazon's data mining operation.

[kneelb4zod]

Well, perhaps if you switched from Martin to Heinlein . . . .


Have you checked if those reading habits data are being sent to Amazon or (the same thing) being kept on Amazon's cloud?

I ask because the developers concerned with privacy issues might become interested in separating this feature from Amazon's data mining operation.

Once I'm done with Martin I likely will

As far as privacy is concerned, it appears that amazon does collect this info, which they claim is "not personally identifiable".


Edit:
I opened up the freetime.db file from the root \system\freetime\ folder. It's mostly gibberish to me, but there is a string of lines that seem to be tying certain classes of data to my amazon account. I've pasted it below, perhaps it's meaningful to somebody.

µjJ!-a
2014-03-16B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAJ!-a
2014-03-15B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUA
&o°&y-a!
;
B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAB000FBFN1U
ı1a3f1;26b75;26cf9;2fc03,9t˙N
DŒïÑÁl-a!	'
B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAB000QCS8TW2010e7;2010e8æŒ È
D*(«9`a!	

B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAB000FBFN1U,9t]›
D*(Å-a!

g
B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAB000FC1HBY<57b1;5c93;655e;6985;1a9f6;1aadb;2379ee;2379ef#"=#|/
D*'¢

jµJ!-a
B000QCS8TWB0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAJ!-a
B000FBFN1UB0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAJ!-a
B000FC1HBYB0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUA
Ãî.Ã`-a!
!B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUABookWormID
D*GˇÄ˛zÄ2014-03-16d-a)
!B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAOverAchieverID
D*OÓ¿˛zÄ2014-03-16j-a5
!B0D4220433660553amzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUAJustGettingStartedID
D*D‡˛zÄ2014-03-16
¸¸§NQ-!a
B0D4220433660553BookWormIDamzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUA
D*GˇÄU-)a
B0D4220433660553OverAchieverIDamzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUA
D*OÓ¿[-5a
B0D4220433660553JustGettingStartedIDamzn1.account.AH6EARPXTH6DH4GQZYXTTG3G3CUA
D*D‡

[knc1]

Just the fact that it is there may be enough to interest some of the developers here.

Thanks for your trouble doing that.

[twowheels]

I've been thinking that I'd like those features available w/o setting up profiles as well, so I sent an e-mail to kindle-feedback. It'd be nice if everybody in this thread did the same as it might encourage them to put it in w/o requiring a jailbreak.

<<assuming that you're OK with the potential tracking, which is surely happening anyhow>>

[twowheels]

I got a response from Amazon:

Hello,

I understand that you would like to have the freetime statistics of child profiles be available for all ages on Kindle paper white device's. Definitely this feature would be of great help to our customers if it is available. It's unfortunate that this feature is not available right now.

I'm glad that you've contacted us about this feature request. I also apologize to let you know that right now, we don't have this feature in use.

Since you're interested in this feature, I've passed your message to the Kindle development Team for review and consideration. I'm sure that having the freetime statistics of child profiles for all ages on Kindle paper white device's will make our customers Kindle experience more convenient.

I want to let you know that we are working on additional feature for our Kindle as part of the next software. Please be assured that your feedback will be considered as we plan further improvements.Your patience and co-operation is highly appreciated in this matter.

I once again apologize for not assisting you in this issue as the feature is not available now. But your feedback will be of great importance for us now and we will definitely try to bring this feature soon.

For the meantime, please extend with us your patience and understanding while we work on this.​​

Please know that we value our customers satisfaction and convenience above all else it's the foundation on which our company was built.

If you need any further assistance please write to us :

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

Thanks for using Kindle. Have a pleasant day ahead!

Best regards,
Vishal

What's strange is that this doesn't appear to be a form letter. At first I assumed that they just substituted <featurename> into a letter and sent it right back, but as I look closer I see a few things that make me wonder....

• The inappropriate apostrophe in "devices" (though this could be part of the form letter field)
• The somewhat awkward use of English coupled with an Indian name. (for example: I also apologize to let you know that right now, we don't have this feature in use. )
• The general repetitiveness, lack of polish, and rushed feel.

I'd be very surprised if Amazon reps answered each feedback with a custom message, but I'm also surprised to see the agents apparently pasting together bits and pieces to compose the message rather than using a polished form letter. Maybe it's all part of their plan to make it seem like they're actually reading our feedback?


Edit: BTW, "all ages" isn't quite what I asked for... I said "without creating profiles and locking the device down" giving the justification that it would "be good for my own inspiration".

[kristalana]

Well for comparison, here's a response I recently got to my feedback about fonts:

Hello,

I understand your concern that you'd like to have more fonts on your Kindle.

Thank you so much for your extremely kind feedback and suggestion about adding more fonts. We're regularly working on improvements to your Kindle experience. I appreciate your thoughts, and will be sure to pass your suggestion along.

I do understand how convenient it would be for all our customers if this feature is to be looked carefully so we could enhance it better and be implemented. At Amazon, we are passionate about driving continuous innovation to serve our Kindle customers in the best way possible.

To make sure that your comments are heard by the right people in the organization, I've forwarded your concern to the appropriate people in our company and this way they can take notice of the issues you've pointed out, take your suggestions into consideration and make sure they are implemented in the near future as we plan for improvements.

It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects. We truly value this kind of feedback, as it helps us continue to improve our store and provide better service to our customers.

Customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us. The Kindle Team will carefully review your message.

Thanks again for your extremely kind feedback!

Best regards,
Sivakumar V

[twowheels]

It appears that I've inadvertently hijacked the thread, but it's interesting that the response vary quite a bit and both have poor English and are signed with Indian names. I wonder if they've outsourced the responses to India.

The most interesting response I've ever received was when I reported the frontlight battery drain bug to kindle-feedback in Oct 2012. Apparently I was one of the first to report it as I received numerous phone calls directly from the developers asking me for logs and steps to reproduce.