The new Kindle Fire comes loaded with Amazon Silk as its default browser.  This makes your browsing experience much faster and more powerful.  However, there 2 areas to consider.  This process is also set up to collect data on your browsing history, which has raised some concerns about privacy.   So how does this happen?

First of all, the Kindle Fire’s web browser (Amazon Silk – exclusive to the Kindle Fire) is integrated with Amazon’s Cloud computing capabilities. The Silk browser is sort of a smart browser.  In short, each time you load a web page, Silk makes a decision to either run it locally or remotely; Amazon’s Cloud computing platform.

This extends the limited capabilities of typical mobile browsers, and extends the battery life.  Overall, this is good because it improves the tablet’s performance.

Privacy Invasion?

For all the power and quickness of load times with this dual browser architecture, some are expressing concerns about their privacy.  Read on:

• Recorded Browsing: If you’ve never cared whether Amazon kept track of your purchasing history, then you might not have a problem with this.  In addition, this information has help many others make buying decisions based on what you’ve bought. Certainly, you’ve seen the “customers who bought this item also bought” statement.

However, with the Kindle Fire, your browsing habits are recorded.  Basically, Amazon Cloud determines where you’ll go next and preloads it. This allows your requests to be instantly returned.

•  Sharing information and Terms: Amazon is sensitive to these concerns, citing its Amazon Silk Terms & Conditions ““We generally do not keep this information for longer than 30 days.”  It further indicates that Amazon Silk is subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Notice which in part states, “We do not provide any personally identifiable customer information to third-party advertisers or third-party Web sites.”

The real issue seems to be just how much of their information is being shared, so this policy may not ease everyone’s concerns.  Definitely,  Amazon is addressing the matter.

• Can You Turn the Off the Recording and Sharing?  The answer to this question is yes.  Amazon makes it possible to opt out of the Cloud optimization functioning.  The Kindle Fire would then retrieve all data using Amazon Silk without the aid of the Amazon Cloud. The downside to this is that disabling the Amazon Cloud may result in longer website loading times and increased use of battery power.

Nevertheless, even with this sharing issue at hand, which can be disabled, many are still amazed at Kindle Fire’s capabilities. They are intrigued at the response times, battery conservation, unlimited storage, improved streaming of movies, games and other media.  These advantages cannot be overlooked.

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