09 Jun 11 Unauthorized Kindle Purchases: Amazon Responds

There is an increased risk of unauthorized purchases being made on my school library’s Amazon account. Here’s why: My library has increased its collection of Kindles from two to six. You see, more Kindles mean more possible visits to the Kindle Store and more possible buying. Because Amazon chooses to allow one-click purchasing from all Kindles, it is quite easy for any Kindle user to navigate to the Kindle Store and choose new titles. Although some libraries are beginning to embrace patron-driven acquisition, for others unfettered one-click purchasing represents a serious problem. Besides the risk of inappropriate content being transferred to the device, there’s the potential of having to contend with a big bill.  In an effort to thwart this threat, I recently attempted to cap potential loss by attaching a gift card to my library’s Amazon account. This didn’t work. The credit card that’s associated with the account, the card that was necessary to first open the account, is still exposed to potential buying sprees. Deauthorizing each Kindle before checkout could solve my problem, but at this point the Kindles cannot connect to my school’s wifi. To make certain that I wasn’t overlooking another solution to the problem, I instant messaged Amazon’s customer service. The attention and courteousness of the customer service rep was commendable, but the recommended solutions were of no help.  Here’s the transcript of the chat, which occurred on Wednesday, June 8, 2011:

You are now connected to Amit from Amazon.com.
Me: I work in a library. I have six kindles regsitered with my account and I have a corporate credit card associated with the account. I would like to be able to prevent purchases on the kindles or I would like to be able to remove the credit card and strictly use gift card balances for purchases. Can you help? 10:24:16 AM
Amit: Hello, my name is Amit. I will be happy to help you. 10:24:33 AM
Amit: I need to transfer you to kindle team. 10:24:52 AM
Me: ok 10:25:12 AM
A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.You are now connected to Amazon from Amazon.com.
Amazon: Hello, my name is Swathi. I’ll be happy to help you today. 10:27:29 AM
Me: I work in a library. I have six kindles regsitered with my account and I have a corporate credit card associated with the account. I would like to be able to prevent purchases on the kindles or I would like to be able to remove the credit card and strictly use gift card balances for purchases. Can you help? 10:28:11 AM
Amazon: Thanks for the information provided. I will be glad to assist you. 10:29:43 AM
Amazon: I have checked your account and see that the current gift card balance is $25. 10:30:29 AM
Amazon: I understand that you want to use the gift certificate balance to your Kindle purchases. 10:31:19 AM
Me: Yes, but I also want to prevent buying on the credit card in the event the gift card balance were to be depleted. I want to minimize the potential loss from unauthorized purchases. 10:32:25 AM
Amazon: To ensure that no one else can use 1-Click purchasing on your account, you’ll just need to sign out of your account when you’re done using it. Click the “Sign out” link above the Self Service Tools box in the right-hand column of our Help pages at any time to exit your Amazon.com account. 10:34:09 AM
Me: I am worried about purchasing made from the kindle itself, not from within my amazon.com account. Can you help with that issue? 10:35:45 AM
Amazon: Thanks for the confirmation. I will help you out with this. 10:36:42 AM
Amazon: Can I have 2 minutes while I do a research on this matter. 10:37:16 AM
Me: Yes, of course. Thank you. 10:37:30 AM
Amazon: Sorry to have kept you on wait. 10:38:47 AM
Amazon: I am sorry currently we do not have an option to avoid unauthorized purchases from your Kindle Devices. 10:39:37 AM
Amazon: However, as an alternative you can set a password on the Settings screen. 10:40:26 AM
Me: Could you please explain that option? 10:41:04 AM
Amazon: Sure. 10:41:15 AM
Amazon: I will guide you through the steps to do so? 10:41:57 AM
Me: ok 10:42:06 AM
Amazon:Thank you. 10:42:17 AM
Amazon: Firstly, I request you to Navigate the Kindle’s Home screen and press the Menu button. 10:42:54 AM
Amazon: Then, Select “Settings” from the Home screen menu. 10:43:28 AM
Me: ok 10:43:32 AM
Amazon: Once you’re done with that, Select the “turn on” option next to Device Password on the Settings page.10:44:03 AM
Me: I don’t see that. 10:45:09 AM
Amazon: Is it clear till here? Can I proceed further? 10:45:09 AM
Me: I see Registration and Device Info. 10:45:30 AM
Amazon: Are you trying this on your 2G kindle? 10:45:53 AM
Me: Yes, but I can get a newer kindle. Please hold on. 10:46:36 AM
Amazon: Sure. 10:46:45 AM
Me: On the Settings screen I now see Registration, Device Name, Wi-Fi Settings, and Device Info. 10:48:13 AM
Amazon: Do you see a device password? 10:48:54 AM
Amazon: You can see this on the second page 10:50:01 AM
Me: No, I do not. In order to get to the Settings screen, I have to go through the Menu button, correct? 10:50:14 AM
Amazon: Yes, Correct. 10:50:34 AM
Me: Oh yes, my mistake. I do see it on the second page. 10:50:44 AM
Amazon: Okay. Now can you please select the “turn on” option next to Device Password on the Settings page. 10:51:27 AM
Me: Wouldn’t this prevent a library patron from reading as well as purchasing? 10:51:52 AM
Amazon: Yes, It prevents from reading as well as purchasing. 10:53:00 AM
Amazon: Can we proceed for the further steps? 10:53:18 AM
Me: I’m not sure how this begins to solve the problem that I have. I’m wondering why amazon couldn’t simply password-protect accounts, like the iTunes Store does. 10:54:21 AM
Me: Is there another way that I could handle the issue? 10:54:37 AM
You are now reconnected with Amazon.
Amazon: Are you there? 10:55:25 AM
Me: Yes. 10:55:32 AM
Amazon: Thanks for confirmation 10:55:40 AM
Amazon: Can we proceed with the steps? 10:55:57 AM
Me: Sure, if you think that they’re going to address my problem. Thank you. 10:56:29 AM
Amazon: Yes, surly it will be of help. 10:57:21 AM
Amazon: Enter your new password twice and also enter a hint to help you remember the password. 10:57:39 AM
Me: Ok, but will this option prevent the patron from reading? Will I have to share the password in order for the patron to read? And, if so, wouldn’t the patron then be able to navigate to the kindle store and make purchases on my account? 10:59:06 AM
Amazon: Yes, if you share your password with the patron, then they will get an option to read and purchase. However, we do no have any specific security option to restrict from Kindle purchases. 11:01:38 AM
Me: Ok. Thank you for your assistance. 11:02:13 AM
Amazon: So, you do not prefer to create a security password on your Kindle screen? 11:02:43 AM
Me: No. That does not help in this situation. Thank you. 11:03:19 AM
Amazon: Okay, I will take this as a feedback and forward to our improvement team. 11:03:54 AM
Amazon: However, just for you to know gift certificates will be directly credited from your account for any kind of Kindle content purchases upto you Gift certificate balance in your account. 11:05:10 AM
Me: Ok, but will purchases then be made on the credit card? In other words, If there’s $25 on my gift balance, could someone be able to make $500 worth of purchases? 11:07:16 AM
Amazon: As an alternative to restrict anyone else purchase from your Kindle you can remove the Payment method associated with “1 Click settings in your account. 11:11:30 AM
Amazon: Whenever you would want to purchase content, you can add the payment method again to 1-Click settings. 11:12:46 AM
Me: That seems impractical, unless I can replace the credit card as the primary payment and make a gift card the primary method. That doesn’t seem to be possible, however. The only change that I can make is to add a different credit card or debit card. 11:13:22 AM
Amazon: I am sorry as of now this is the only alternative option we have to restrict the purchases. 11:15:06 AM
Me: Ok. Thank you. I will sign off now. 11:15:27 AM
Amazon: Is there anything else that I can help you with?11:16:16 AM
Me: No. Thank you. 11:16:26 AM
Amazon: We hope to see you again soon! Please click the “End Chat” link to close this window. 11:16:51 AM
Me: Ok. 11:17:09 AM