Kobo is owned by Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant. While offering better privacy than Amazon's ecosystem, your reading data still flows to a major corporation with interests in advertising, credit cards, and retail. Kobo's reading analytics track engagement across devices, and this data integrates with Rakuten's broader customer profiles. DRM-free options provide some escape from tracking on specific titles.
| Data Type | Collected | Shared | Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading history and progress | Yes | Rakuten Group | No |
| Bookmarks and annotations | Yes | Cloud Sync | No |
| Purchase history | Yes | Rakuten Group | No |
| Device sync data | Yes | Internal | No |
| Interest profiles | Yes | Rakuten Marketing | Ad Platforms |
| Library integration data | Optional | OverDrive | No |
Your Kobo data flows to Rakuten's broader ecosystem, which includes Rakuten Rewards (formerly Ebates), credit cards, and marketing platforms. Reading interests can inform advertising across Rakuten properties.
Kobo tracks reading progress, time spent reading, and engagement patterns across all connected devices. This data syncs through Kobo's cloud services.
As a Japanese-owned company, data may be transferred to and processed in Japan under different privacy regulations than your home country.
Interest profiles built from reading habits can be used by Rakuten's marketing platforms for targeted advertising across their network of partners.
Some publishers offer DRM-free books through Kobo. These titles can be read offline without syncing to Kobo's servers, reducing tracking on specific purchases.
While still part of a conglomerate, Rakuten's data ecosystem is significantly smaller and less invasive than Amazon's comprehensive surveillance infrastructure.
Using Kobo with library books through OverDrive keeps that borrowing history separate from your purchase data, though OverDrive has its own privacy practices.
With Canadian roots, Kobo maintains compliance with PIPEDA and offers privacy controls meeting Canadian standards, often stricter than US requirements.