If you use ebooks, the MIT Libraries would like you to be aware of privacy concerns recently raised about the use of Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) 4.0.

ADE is an ebook reader that enforces the copyright protection embedded in some ebooks; many of the ebooks licensed by the MIT Libraries require the use of ADE to download and read them. Recently it was discovered that ADE 4.0 collects information about the books and pages read using the software, and transmits this information to Adobe servers as unencrypted text files. As far as we know this information is not collected or transmitted with ADE 3.0 or earlier. Adobe plans to release an update the week of October 20, 2014 to repair the unencrypted transmission, but has stated that the collection of this information is covered by its Privacy Policy.

If you use ebooks, we strongly recommend that you delete ADE 4.0 and download Adobe Digital Editions 3.0 in order to protect your privacy.

Please see the press release from the American Library Association for more information about the situation.