Adobe Digital Editions#Digital rights management

Adobe Digital Editions uses the proprietary ADEPT (Adobe Digital Experience Protection Technology) digital rights management scheme,{{cite web |title=Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 Press Release |url=https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200706/061907DigitalEditions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918181050/https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200706/061907DigitalEditions.html |archive-date=2007-09-18 |access-date=2012-11-28 |publisher=Adobe}} which is also implemented on some e-book readers, including iPads and many Android devices, but not Kindles.{{cite web| url=http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/supported-devices |title=Digital Editions supported devices |publisher=Adobe |date=January 2012}} The software locks content to up to six machines and allows the user to view the content on each of them. Barnes & Noble (B&N) e-books are protected with a variant of ADEPT.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

In March 2009, the author of the reverse engineering blog i♥cabbages announced that they had broken the scheme.{{cite web|url=http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com/2009/02/circumventing-adobe-adept-drm-for-epub.html|title=Circumventing Adobe ADEPT DRM for EPUB|date=18 February 2009|work=i♥cabbages|access-date=2009-05-14}}

When viewing an e-book, Adobe Digital Editions by default stores the e-book locally as PDF files on Windows machines.

These files can be copied and handled like other files, but they cannot be opened except with Adobe Digital Editions. Adobe's website has virtually no information on ADEPT except on its trademark page and a statement that OverDrive is compatible.{{cite web| url=https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressmaterials/pdfs/ACS4PartnerQuotes.pdf |title=Partner Quotes |publisher=Adobe |access-date=2012-11-18}}

On 6 October 2014, Nate Hoffelder reported in The Digital Reader that Adobe Digital Editions version 4 ("ADE4") was sending extensive information about e-books back to Adobe, including e-books read by a user as well as e-books stored on the same machine but not opened in ADE4.{{cite web|url=http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/10/06/adobe-spying-users-collecting-data-ebook-libraries/#.VDVqChYcWg3|title=Adobe is Spying on Users, Collecting Data on Their eBook Libraries|website=The Digital Reader|date=6 October 2014|first=Nate |last=Hoffelder}} This was confirmed by Sean Gallagher, writing in Ars Technica{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/security/2014/10/adobes-e-book-reader-sends-your-reading-logs-back-to-adobe-in-plain-text/ |title=Adobe's e-book reader sends your reading logs back to Adobe—in plain text|date=7 October 2014|first=Sean |last=Gallagher|website=Ars Technica}} and by others.{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/adobe_digital_editions_4_caught_snooping_into_ebook_collections_of_users/|title=Adobe spies on readers: 'EVERY page you turn, EVERY book you own' leaked back to base|work=The Register| first=Iain |last=Thomson|date=7 October 2014}} However, no one else has confirmed the report that books never opened in ADE nor in the ADE library are logged. Hoffelder reported that the information collected included "[which] ebooks that have been opened, which pages were read, and in what order... including the title, publisher, and other metadata for the book". He also reported that all this data was sent in clear text—that is, not protected by any form of encryption. This would make it easy for a third party to read this information. This data was collected for borrowed library books and for books NOT protected by any form of DRM. Hoffelder suggested that such a practice might violate various privacy laws. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) made a similar suggestion.{{cite web| date=7 October 2014 |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/10/adobe-spyware-reveals-again-price-drm-your-privacy-and-security|title=Adobe Spyware Reveals (Again) the Price of DRM: Your Privacy and Security|first=Corynne |last=McSherry|website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}

Adobe responded that their practice was justified by their license agreement and denied collecting data on any book not currently opened for reading. Specifically, they stated:

"All information collected from the user is collected solely for purposes such as license validation and to facilitate the implementation of different licensing models by publishers. Additionally, this information is solely collected for the eBook currently being read by the user and not for any other eBook in the user’s library or read/available in any other reader. User privacy is very important to Adobe, and all data collection in Adobe Digital Editions is in line with the end user license agreement and the Adobe Privacy Policy."{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/adobe-confirms-its-gathering-ebook-readers-data/|title=Adobe Confirms It's Gathering Ebook Readers' Data|website=Digital Book World|date=7 October 2014|access-date=8 October 2014|archive-date=7 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007220132/http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/adobe-confirms-its-gathering-ebook-readers-data/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/08/adobe_says_it_slurps_ebook_data_in_plain_text_because_privacy_is_important/|title=Adobe spies on reading habits over unencrypted web because your 'privacy is important'|work=The Register| first=Iain |last=Thomson|date=7 October 2014}}

Gary Price, writing in INFOdocket (an online publication sponsored by Library Journal), views the matter as of serious concern, but sees it as another instance of concerns that have been present but largely unaddressed for years.{{cite web|website=INFOdocket|first=Gary|last=Price|title=New and Old: Serious Reader Privacy Concerns Both Inside and Outside the Library|url=http://www.infodocket.com/2014/10/07/new-and-old-serious-reader-privacy-concerns-both-inside-and-outside-the-library/|date=7 October 2014}} The article also posts Adobe's response to the issue.

In October 2014, Adobe released version 4.0.1 of the software, which sends data to Adobe in a secure transmission (using HTTPS).{{cite web|website=Electronic Frontier Foundation|url= https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/10/what-we-can-learn-adobe-e-reader-mess |title=What We Can Learn From The Adobe E-Reader Mess|date=October 2014}}

• Adobe Content Server
• calibre (software)
• Digital library
• International Digital Publishing Forum
• OverDrive Media Console
• Public library
• Sigil (application)

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• {{Official website|https://www.adobe.com/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html}}

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Category:PDF readers

Digital Editions

Category:EPUB readers

Category:Digital rights management systems