Lawmakers are raising concerns about Amazon's new Kindle Fire, which comes with Silk, a new browser that can transmit information about every site users visit back to the retail giant.
Silk
can run in either an “off-cloud” mode or on Amazon's cloud-computing network. If users run Silk “off-cloud,” Amazon doesn't receive information about sites visited, but pages
take longer to load. Users who run the browser through Amazon's cloud-computer network will experience faster mobile browsing, but will share all of their Web activity with Amazon. The company says in its terms and conditions that it will log URLs for the pages it serves, along with IP or MAC addresses, for up
to 30 days.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who along with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) co-chairs a House privacy caucus, raised concerns about Amazon's new browser at a panel hearing on Thursday.
Today, Markey fired off a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos questioning the company's plans. Specifically, the lawmaker wants to know what information Amazon will collect, whether the company intends to
share that data with third parties, how Amazon intends to tell users about its privacy policy, and whether the company will allow users to opt-in to the data collection.
“By coupling the
Fire with Silk, Amazon can essentially track each and every Web click of its customers,” Markey wrote. “Amazon will know where people shop, what items they buy, when they buy them, and how
much they pay.”