Is the Amazon Kindle Fire just a fancy tracking device? That's the concern for Rep. Edward Markey, who penned a letter to Amazon today asking the company for more details about how data is collected via its Silk browser.
Silk is a "split browser" that partially lives on the Fire tablet and partially lives in the cloud, producing a faster browsing experience. Basically, most of the heavy lifting is handled by Amazon's EC2 and C3 services. As PCMag's ExtremeTech described it, "Amazon sucks down the target Web site, lays it out, renders it—and then ships it off as a much smaller, condensed package to the Kindle Fire tablet."
But as the New York Times pointed out recently, "longer term, Silk will monitor consumer behavior, and Amazon's machines will predict from past behavior where a customer is likely to go next."
The intention is to speed up the browsing process even more, by pre-loading Web sites that the Fire/Silk thinks you might navigate to next. In a separate article, however, the Times said that might "give Amazon unique insight into the Web clicks, buying patterns and media habits of Kindle Fire owners," prompting the Markey letter.
"Consumers may buy the new Kindle Fire to read '1984,' but they may not realize that the tablet's 'Big Browser' may watching their every keystroke when they are online," Markey, co-chair of the Bi-partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, said in a statement. "As the use of mobile devices, especially tablets, becomes ubiquitous, we must ensure that user privacy is protected and proper safeguards are in place so that consumers know if and when their personal information is being used and for what purpose. I look forward to hearing more from Amazon in response to these questions."
Specifically, Markey asked Amazon: What information will the Fire collect about users; will Amazon sell or provide this data to third parties; how will Amazon disclose its privacy policy to Fire and Silk users; and if Amazon collects a user's Web browsing history, will that user be able to opt out?
In an email, an Amazon spokesperson said "users can completely turn off the split-browsing mode and use Amazon Silk like a conventional Web browser."
Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire tablet in late September; it will start shipping on November 15. The Android-based device features a 7-inch screen and costs $199. For more, see PCMag's first look at the Fire and the slideshow below.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 7:30pm with comment from Amazon.