Amazon shares your private info unless you do these steps
Amazon’s stock is soaring as it joins the trillion-dollar club alongside Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube. The buy-anything-you-need site is even moving into our lexicon. Rather than risking a trip to the store amid the pandemic, we say, "I'll Prime it."
Amazon’s chief competitor Walmart isn’t sitting idle. The retail giant is rumored to be launching Walmart+. Not only is Walmart+ cheaper than Amazon Prime, but it also has a slew of other benefits you can quickly learn about here.
You can save money on your Amazon Prime account if you know the secrets. From adding others in your family to getting a cheaper student or Medicaid rate, tap or click here to save big on your Amazon Prime account.
If you’re spending more money and time on Amazon than ever before, let’s make sure your public profile is locked down:
Yes, you have an Amazon public profile
As an Amazon shopper, you have a username and a password. That's standard for any site. You may not realize that as an Amazon customer, you also have a profile visible to other Amazon users.
Your public profile is created automatically, whether you want it or not, and it contains your comments and any ratings that you have left on products purchased on the site. If you reviewed any food delivered through Amazon Restaurants, those reviews are also visible even though they shut down this service last year.
Your biographical information and other site interactions are also posted to your profile. Thankfully, your public profile doesn't include your purchases or browsing history, but it's still very informative.
To control what is visible on your public profile, follow these steps:
1. Sign in to your Amazon account. Click Accounts and Lists.
2. Under Ordering and shopping preferences, click Your Amazon profile.
3. Click the orange box marked Edit your profile.
Here, you’ll see Edit profile and Edit privacy settings.
Spend time here and look around. You can select various options to review, such as your about me section, shopping lists, wish lists, any pets you added, etc. Be sure that you check your community activity section, too. I recommend you anonymize as much information here as you can.
STOP SNOOPS: While you’re cleaning up your accounts, I suggest you visit Facebook. Tap or click for three settings you should change right now.
Be sure to make your lists private
There are two main lists on Amazon: the Shopping List and the Wish List. Many people use their Wish Lists for gift ideas, but we often use Wish Lists as a log of items we don’t want to forget.
The trouble is that anyone in the world can find your Wish List by searching your name. Granted, if your name is "John Smith," you may not be easy to pinpoint. But if strangers find out where you live, they may deduce and identify your profile.
To check the privacy settings of your Amazon Shopping and Wish Lists, follow these steps:
1. From in the Ordering and shopping preferences, choose Manage your lists.
2. Make sure the Your Lists tab is selected. Hover over the three dots next to Send list to others on the top right, then select Manage list.
3. Here, you can change your list details like your list name, the name of the recipient, email, birthday, and privacy.
4. To change the list’s privacy settings from Public, simply select Private on the drop-down box next to Privacy.
You’re not done yet. This next step is very important.
See what your Amazon public profile looks like to strangers
Finally, let's be sure your Amazon profile is protected correctly.
1. Sign in to your Amazon account. Click Accounts and Lists.
2. Under Ordering and shopping preferences, click Your Amazon profile.
3. At the top, there is a notice that this is your private view of your profile. Adjacent to that is an option to See what others see.
Be sure to click that so you know exactly what personal information you are allowing to be public knowledge to any Amazon shopper.
MORE TRACKING: You can see what Google knows about you, too, and delete it.
Stop Amazon from tracking your browsing
Amazon also tracks all your browsing activity by default. The company saves your searches, including items you recently viewed and product categories you browsed. All of this information helps Amazon create targeted ads. Although your browsing history is hidden from the public, you may find this habit unsettling.
Here’s how to stop Amazon from tracking your browsing activity:
1. Log in to your account at Amazon.com.
2. Look directly under the Amazon search bar, click Browsing History.
3. On the next page, click the Manage history drop-down arrow. Click Remove all items from view. You can also remove specific items from your browsing history.
4. Toggle Turn Browsing History on/off to Off.
Meanwhile, you can also turn off personalized or targeted ads, which many customers find eerie and exasperating.
Here’s how to turn off targeted ads on your browser:
1. Sign in to your Amazon account. Click Accounts and Lists.
2. Under Communication and content, click Advertising preferences.
3. On this page, select Do not show me interest-based ads provided by Amazon.
Bonus: 6 Amazon Echo uses that will surprise you
One of the Echo’s most brilliant features is its ability to interact with your smart home products. Location-based routines and triggers are great. Have the lights turn on when you’re entering your neighborhood.
Put your Echo to work for more than news, playlists and weather reports. Learn how to set this up and more Echo tricks that you'll use time and time again.
Learn about all the latest technology on the Kim Komando Show, the nation's largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today's digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tips to control privacy and manage advertising preferences on Amazon.
