US Congressman writes to Amazon with Silk privacy concerns

CONCERNS ABOUT PRIVACY have lead a US congressman to write to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about the company's Silk web browser for Kindle e-readers.

Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey sent his letter (PDF) to Bezos on Friday and in it asked him to answer a number of questions raised about the software. When it was announced, Amazon's Silk web browser raised some eyebrows because of the way it could impact personal privacy.

The Silk browser serves up web pages from the cloud, meaning that the user is distanced from it and its data, and the fact that Amazon also keeps information about its shoppers combines with this into a headache for privacy advocates and Markey, who has demanded answers.

"I am concerned that such a combination will enable Amazon to collect and utilize an extraordinary amount of information about its users' internet surfing and buying habits," he said.

"By coupling the Fire with Silk, Amazon can essentially track every Web click of its customers. Amazon will know where people shop, what items they buy, when they buy them and how much they pay."

Markey, who has read a report in the New York Times about the issue, asked questions relating to this point and demanded that Bezos tell him how much information Amazon would keep and what it was expecting to do with that information.

Sensibly, and we would like to think that these are already things that Amazon has thought about, he asks whether the firm will clearly explain the changes to its users, and whether they will be able to opt-out of any data collection, should they feel that to be appropriate.

"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," said the congressman in a statement.

Congressman Markey asked for a response from the firm by no later than 4 November. µ