Amazon Pressed on Kindle Fire Browser's Privacy
Amazon Kindle Fire is under fire.
The release of Amazon Kindle Fire in the market has been met with considerable success in the market. However, this success could be challenged as it faces various security issues.
These security issues were raised by Rep. Edward Markey, co-chairman for the Congressional Privacy Caucus. Markey wrote a letter for Amazon last month after The New York Times mentioned in their report that both Kindle Fire and Silk browser could allow the company to collect information on web browsing and purchasing activities of its consumers. Markey also addressed the issue about the information that Amazon collects from this practice and how this information is managed by the company.
Paul Misener, Amazon's VP for global public policy was the one who replied to the sent letter. According to Misener, the company "collects aggregate browsing information from Fire users. The Web address, or URL, of every page served up to the browser is temporarily stored by Amazon for 30 days, but no associations are made between the URLs and individual users." This strategy is considered as essential for the performance and speed of Amazon silk. Misener also added that some webpage information is cached by Amazon's servers which is the same process done in any computer-based browser. Amazon also stores information from "crash reports" and these reports are generated in order to find out ways to eliminate troubles with Silk. For users who are concerned about sharing these details with Amazon, they have the option to turn off Silk's cloud acceleration features in order to stop this process. In response to Markey's concern about customer information, Misener replied stating "Customer information is an important part of our business and an important driver of customer experience and future invention. We do not sell (or rent) the information to others and do not have plans to do so."
The replies that Misener gave regarding these security issues raised did not pacify Markey describing this response as "unsatisfactory". He further added that "Amazon's responses to my inquiries do not provide enough detail about how the company intends to use customer information, beyond acknowledging that the company uses this valuable information." Misener also mentioned that he plans to get more answers and explanation about this matter from Amazon.