Amazon Assistant - Conditions of Use

Amazon Assistant knows all about you

Amazon Assistant is a service by Amazon that is offered as a browser extension or mobile application designed to improve the Internet shopping experience.

Its main features are product comparison, access to Amazon's wishlist from any website, the highlighting of daily deals on Amazon, and a search.

Amazon Assistant is a controversial product. First, it replaces the much simpler Amazon Wishlist browser extension which concentrated solely on adding products to the wishlist but shipped without other features and was not nearly as invasive to privacy as the product.

What may weight more is that it is bundled with Java meaning that it may land on a user's computer unexpectedly.

The Java offer will not only install Amazon Assistant by default, it will also change the homepage and default search to Amazon Smart Search.

Amazon Assistant and Privacy

If you read the conditions of use of Amazon Assistant on the Amazon website, you will immediately realize that the service monitors what you do even if you are not using it or interacting with Amazon services.

Under Automatic Information, Amazon states:

The Amazon Assistant may also collect information about the websites you view when you are not interacting with the Amazon Assistant, but we do not associate that information with your Amazon account or identify it with you except as required by law.

Examples of the information we collect and analyze include a subset of your IP address; a domain name or full URL of the Web page you are visiting and any referring URL’s to the visited web page; general information about the visited web page, such as product search query or specifications; general information about your browser; general information about your computer's operating system; other identifying alphanumerical information enabling Amazon to identify your computer; and the date and time the above information is logged.

Amazon won't link the information it collects while you are using the browser or application with the Amazon account directly, but it will associated the information with the computer by using identifying information.

Amazon may make information available to third-party applications or services, and information that is collected may be sent to these services and applications.

If you break it down: Amazon Assistant records your Internet history while it is installed and will provide Amazon with the information. While Amazon won't associate the information with your Amazon account directly, it collects information that provides the company with enough information to identify the computer used.

Furthermore, it would be trivial to link use of the extension or app to an Amazon account, if users sign-in to their Amazon account while using the application.

One way around this would be to use a browser profile or separate browser exclusively for use with the browser extension.

In the end, it comes down to weighting the positive and negative impact of Amazon Assistant on your life.

Now You: Are you running privacy invasive apps or browser extensions?

About Martin Brinkmann

Are you running privacy invasive apps? Yes unfortunately, the most privacy invasive of all: Windows 10.

Is there any particular reason you’re specifically singling out Windows 10, but completely ignoring Google and Apple?

Allow me, as I see this many times posted.

Tim, I think there are many people like me, who treat their desktop/laptop as a more private device than their phones (I assume you mean Nexus/iPhone by Google/Apple). My phone’s storage is just.. temporary storage, at best. Every backup feature is disabled/removed, and as soon as I connect it to my PC I transfer all the new media from it. There’s nothing important on it, at all. Compared to my PC where I have all my pictures/videos, etc.

The tracking problem (via its GPS, which is impressively accurate, phones came a long way in the past few years) – I also don’t care. Google, at best, will associate that the owner of this device (in my case they also know my name, age and country, info that I gave away, my choice not to keep it private) with the frequented places – well, lets see, a pharmacy, where I work, couple of restaurants/bars where I have a drink every now and then and maybe where I do my groceries. That is not valuable private info for me. They can have that, and for all I care everyone could.

Tl;dr – my PC is My Computer, running Windows 7, with no telemetry and background transfer services; not as micro$oft is subtly hinting in the later iterations of their OS with ‘This PC’ (; My phone doesn’t contain any valuable private info. And why would it? I always have it with me, I could easily lose it, I could forget it at a bench in a park, at a local, at the beach, etc.. been there, done that – not wotrh it.

This is why I think people care when Microsoft is doing it, and couldn’t give a darn when/if others are doing it.

@Tim, Could it be because “someone” doesn’t use Google and Apple products?

You know how sometimes in dystopian Sci-Fi movies they have a Bruce Willis type main character who is “unplugged” and lives the old school way of life. Yeah, I kinda feel like doing that with the way the Internet and technology is currently going.

I might be halfway there — almost never answer my phone (my phone is for me to make calls, not for people to hassle me), have no social media presence, and am “awful with emails.” When Amazon (which already knows my shopping habits better than I do) recommended their Assistant, my first inclination was to understand how the browser add-on interacts with my browsing history (hence my being here).

Me, I don’t use Amazon except as an info source. No FB or Twitter accounts. I don’t bank online or pay bills online. i have no smart devices. Trying to fly under the radar.

Yes, I run browser extensions and apps. I also run FF which is like any other browser privacy invasive.

The question should have been – is there anything out there that is not privacy invasive? And why do developers invest so much time and effort creating apps and extensions for free use? Samaritans in our cutthroat society?

Obviously. Don’t you think developets create free app and hope for little money from donation?

It is obvious. Don’t you think developers create free app and hope for a little money from donation?

Yes, agreed. But all of them.

I have really been focusing a lot lately on privacy. I have gone through a lot of privacy adjustments in Firefox. I’ve disabled 3rd party cookies, and FF dumps my cache on exit.

I’ve added extensions HTTPS Everywhere, Disconnect, and Self-Destructing Cookies (SDC). I use Ublock Origin, and I recently signed up for PIA VPN. I have no Facebook or Twitter account or any other social media for that matter.

I’m not a nutter or a tin-foil hat conspiracy nut. I just feel like no one who reads tech news daily can deny that spying, tracking, targeting, etc has gotten out of control in the last few years. Facebook is tracking users who don’t even have FB accounts, it’s nuts.

I do still use Google search, but I disabled search history in my Google account. I’m not under the delusion that I’m still not being logged, and I do more personal searches (e. g. health issues) via Duck Duck Go.

You should also consider adding Random Agent Spoofer and Privacy Badger to your addon arsenal for disrupting browser fingerprinting. If you’re an advanced user, get RequestPolicy Continued to block scripts.

Java is downloaded…. this is an useless application. Simple suggestion ban oracle sites.

“Are you running privacy invasive apps or browser extensions?”

The answer to this question is: “I hope not.”.

I do not believe that I use privacy invasive browser extensions. I typically do not Chromium based web browsers. I examine the extensions intended for Firefox and Firefox-based browsers to determine if the extension should behave as expected. I do not use extension that I find to be against my interests (which does include monitoring my activities).

Amazon Assistant for Chrome

Amazon's official browser extension. By installing you agree to the Conditions of Use at amazon. com/gp/BIT/TOUAmazon Assistant helps you make better decisions wherever you shop online by giving you access to:

* Price Comparison: Keep an eye out for price comparisons that can save time and money.

* Order Updates: Receive order notifications to stay up to date with your deliveries.

* Universal Lists and Registries: Add products from any website to your Amazon lists and registries with the 'Add to List' tab.

* Deal of the Day: Never miss a deal. Assistant delivers the best deals every day.

* Shortcuts: Save time. Assistant gives you shortcuts to popular Amazon destinations right in your browser.

By installing you are agreeing to the Conditions of Use located at www. amazon. com/gp/BIT/TOU.

We offer localized support in 10 locales, including US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Japan, India, and China.

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Uninstall Amazon Assistant: Here Are Better Ways to Shop

I love Amazon for making online shopping so easy. I now do most of my own shopping online. And, thanks to the h > 20 Awesome but Hidden Amazon Features You Can't Afford to Ignore 20 Awesome but Hidden Amazon Features You Can't Afford to Ignore Amazon is packed with cool features that can make your life easier. Here are 20 useful perks that you can take advantage of right now without paying an extra cent. Read More, I end up saving a ton of time and money every year. It’s even better when you throw in the core benefits of Prime 10 Awesome Amazon Prime Benefits You've Probably Overlooked 10 Awesome Amazon Prime Benefits You've Probably Overlooked Free two-day shipping is just the beginning. Here are some notable Amazon Prime subscription benefits you may not know about. Read More and the newer benefits of Prime 7 New Amazon Prime Benefits You Didn't Know About 7 New Amazon Prime Benefits You Didn't Know About You don't need Prime to benefit from Amazon. But Amazon Prime comes with a few lesser known benefits you may not have tried yet. Read More.

But there’s one thing I don’t recommend: Amazon Assistant. In this article, you’ll learn three things:

What is Amazon Assistant? Why should you avoid using it? Which are the better alternatives you can use to mimic some of its best features?

What Is Amazon Assistant?

It was earlier called 1Button App. Now, Amazon Assistant is a browser extension and mobile app that aims to improve your overall online shopping experience. Its features include:

Order Updates: As your Amazon orders progress from Ordered to Shipped to Delivered, you can get every update straight in the app in real-time. Price Comparisons: When shopping on other online retailer sites, get direct price comparisons for the same item on Amazon. This lets you get the best deals all the time, whether they’re on Amazon or elsewhere. Registries and Lists: One of Amazon’s best features is its wish lists and registriesUse Amazon Wish and Idea Lists to Get Gifts You Actually WantUse Amazon Wish and Idea Lists to Get Gifts You Actually Want Amazon has a pair of features that help you create lists of gifts you'd like to receive. Here's how to set up an Idea List or Wish List with items you have your eye on. Read More. With Amazon Assistant, you can even add items from other online retailers to your Amazon lists, thus keeping everything in one place and organized. Deal Alerts: Set up alerts on specific items and get browser alerts when the price goes down so you can snatch them up as soon as they’re affordable. Image Search: When shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, you can snap photos of items or their barcodes to instantly arrive at that item’s Amazon page if it exists. Amazon Shortcuts: One-click navigation to popular Amazon pages, such as Your Orders, Your Lists, Today’s Deals, and Warehouse Deals.

These features are useful. But, there are some major drawbacks to consider before hopping aboard the Amazon Assistant train.

Why You Should Avoid Amazon Assistant

The primary reason to avoid Amazon Assistant is Concerns over privacy. We highly recommend reading the Amazon Assistant Conditions of Use, wherein you’ll find this chunk of text:

“The Amazon Assistant collects and stores information based on your interactions with and use of the features of the Amazon Assistant. For example, if you use the Amazon Assistant to add a product to your Amazon Wishlist or use the Product Comparison feature. . . we will collect and store information such as. . . your Amazon account, your search query, and other information necessary to. . . show you related Amazon products.”

Followed by this bit of text:

“In some cases, we may associate that information with your identity and Amazon account information.”

And that’s not all:

“The Amazon Assistant may also collect information about the websites you view when you are not interacting with the Amazon Assistant, but we do not associate that information with your Amazon account or identify it with you except as required by law.”

What kind of information?

“Examples of the information we collect and analyze include. . . full URL of the Web page you are visiting. . . [and] other identifying alphanumerical information enabling Amazon to identify your computer. . .”

And the last bit of concerning conditions:

“Amazon may make available third party applications and services as part of the Amazon Assistant. . . and using these third party applications and services may result in you sending information to such third parties.”

So what does this all mean?

Amazon makes it clear that they are collecting information on your browsing habits at all times, both when interacting with Amazon Assistant and when you aren’t. When third-party services are involved, your habits will likely be collected by them as well. As of now, it’s impossible to know what third parties may or may not be involved.

The non-Amazon Assistant-related information isn’t currently associated with your Amazon account, but Amazon is collecting it — and who knows how they might use it in the future? It wouldn’t require much effort at all to eventually connect all of this information together.

Learn more about how much information Amazon collects on you Shopping vs. Privacy: What Does Amazon Know About You? Shopping vs. Privacy: What Does Amazon Know About You? Did you think Amazon was too noble to breach your privacy? You'd be surprised. Here's what the company knows about you, where that knowledge comes from, and how you can control it. Read More.

Another big reason to avoid Amazon Assistant: Scummy tactics to increase its exposure and adoption rate. Back in 2016, Oracle (the current developers of Java) began bundling Amazon Assistant as part of the Java 8 installer, which not only installed Amazon Assistant but also changed browser homepages and search engines to Amazon Smart Search.

Bundleware is one of the most annoying practices today and is one of the main reasons why we recommend avo > The 7 Worst Places for Downloading Windows Software The 7 Worst Places for Downloading Windows Software Software can be packed with bloatware and worse, malware. You can catch malware, if you download your tools from the wrong source. These are the sites you should avoid. Read More. The fact that Amazon would stoop this low for Amazon Assistant leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Better Alternatives to Amazon Assistant

The truth is, you can replicate most of Amazon Assistant’s features with a hodgepodge of other tools and services that won’t harvest your web browsing habits and information. It may not be as convenient as having it all in one single app, but we think the trade-off is worth it.

For Order Updates

You can track your Amazon orders in three ways:

Through Amazon. com on the Your Orders page. Click Track Package after it’s delivered to get shipping tracking information, which is often done through USPS. Through the shipping company. For example, once the package is shipped and if it’s done through USPS, you can enter the tracking number on the USPS site and then sign up to receive email or SMS updates as shipping progresses. Through the Amazon Shopping mobile app (Android and iOS). If you enable it in the settings, the app will push notifications whenever an order’s status changes.

With these options, you’ll never have to wonder where your new Amazon Fire Stick How to Set Up and Use Your Amazon Fire TV Stick How to Set Up and Use Your Amazon Fire TV Stick Here's how to set up and use your Amazon Fire TV Stick for best performance, plus fixes to common Fire TV Stick issues. Read More is again!

For Price Comparisons

You have different options for price comparisons whether you prefer to do them in a desktop browser or on your mobile device.

For desktop browsers, we recommend Google Shopping. If you have similar concerns about privacy with Google, use sites like PriceRunner and ShopBot (Australia). See more options in our roundup of the best price comparison websites 6 Useful Price Comparison Websites, Engines, and Tools to Know 6 Useful Price Comparison Websites, Engines, and Tools to Know Price comparison websites help you find the item you want at the lowest price possible. Read More.

For mobile devices, we recommend ShopSavvy (Andro > The 5 Best Price Comparison Apps: How to Find Deals and Save Money The 5 Best Price Comparison Apps: How to Find Deals and Save Money Here are the best price comparison apps for mobile devices to help you make sure you get the best price across multiple stores. Read More.

For Deal Alerts

Arguably the most useful feature, price notifications can save you a ton of money with practically zero effort. But if you can’t rely on Amazon Assistant, where else can you go?

Despite its weird name, CamelCamelCamel is the best tool to use. Take any Amazon product URL and paste it into CamelCamelCamel’s search box to see a complete history of its price. You can set an alert for when the price drops below a certain threshold. You can also see its lowest and highest prices ever, which can let you know if you’re getting a deal or not.

This isn’t the only tool, of course. See our roundup of ways to get discounted deals on Amazon How to Get the Best Discounted Deals on Amazon How to Get the Best Discounted Deals on Amazon There are lots of great deals on Amazon, but you need to know how to find them. Here are some tips and tools to help. Read More. Also, these ways to save when shopping on Amazon 10 Super Ways to Save When Shopping on Amazon 10 Super Ways to Save When Shopping on Amazon There are plenty of ways to save some bucks when shopping on Amazon that you may or may not know about. Read More can push your savings to the next level.

How Do You Shop Online?

Online shopping has evolved quite a bit over the last decade, and it’s still changing even as we speak. Be sure to catch up on these essential online shopping terms 15 Crucial Terms Every Online Shopper Should Know 15 Crucial Terms Every Online Shopper Should Know The world of online shopping evolves so quickly, it can be hard to keep up with the terminology. Here are a handful of terms that we think everyone should know for their own good! Read More as well as these alternative online retailers that aren’t Amazon 5 Reliable Online Shopping Alternatives to Amazon 5 Reliable Online Shopping Alternatives to Amazon Amazon is the biggest player in the game of online retailers, but that doesn't mean you have to use them. Read More.

More than that, here are a few more things to bear in mind when shopping online: how to avo > Buck the Trend: 5 Tips to Avoid Shopping Impulsively Online Buck the Trend: 5 Tips to Avoid Shopping Impulsively Online Are you an impulsive shopper? Do you throw away money on items you don’t really want or need? Here are some tips and tricks to help you regain control. Read More, common online shopping traps Do You Think Twice About These Online Shopping Traps Before You Buy? Do You Think Twice About These Online Shopping Traps Before You Buy? Retailers and marketers are using cutting-edge behavioral psychology to get you to buy their products, whether you need them or not. Do you know how they're targeting you? Read More, and tricks that’ll help you spend less money online 7 Tricks That'll Help You Waste Less Money Online 7 Tricks That'll Help You Waste Less Money Online Who needs willpower when you can trick yourself into spending less money online? Read More. Left unchecked, online shopping can be a huge money sink!

What do you think of Amazon Assistant? What about Amazon in general? How do you prefer to shop online? Share with us down in the comments below!

Amazon Assistant for Firefox by Amazon. com

Amazon Assistant is Amazon's official product to help you discover products available on Amazon and price compare as you shop across the web. By installing you agree to the Conditions of Use at amazon. com/gp/BIT/TOU.

Extension Metadata

* Click on the icon in your browser to find personalized product recommendations for you.

* Discover Amazon's products and entertainment while browsing across the web. Amazon Assistant will show you Amazon’s best offer, ratings, reviews and provide similar recommendations

* Get your Amazon order updates in real-time. Assistant notifies you when your orders ship and deliver

* Never miss out on an Amazon deal. See new deals every day and get notified when deals you’re watching go live.

* Save all your favorite products in one place. Your Lists keep track of products from Amazon and other websites in one convenient place.

We offer localized support in 9 locales, including US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Japan, and India.

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