Skyfire Mobile Web Browser Review

I have shown evidence in the following thread and created a poll as well:

http://mobilitytoday.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16564

Check your personal attacks and logical falacies at the door please.

"All the current evidence points to them not collecting said information."

LOL!!!!!!!!! HHAHAHAHAHA! Evidence? What evidence? Can you show me this evidence?

I am now convinced, you just don't get it.

Go listen to the Podcast again..... Dave made the "big brother" comment. What I said has been stated by other people who have had first hand experience with the product and the company. Since you have neither.....your comments are just opinion.

Over and out. Feel free to "get in the last word". G'Night Gracie.

Give me a break Jerry, you and Steve were sitting there "...ooooh big brother is watching..." in the podcast. Here you stated that people aren't going to want to use the software when they find out about the potential risks, then you stated that people should be wary of using this software....oooooh 'Cause what, Paypal does not keep ALL of your bank account, credit card account, address, name and other financial data stored on their servers indefinitely? Somehow, though, people crawled out of their fears and signed up to use Paypal as a payment processor making them one of the biggest processors on the Internet.

This software poses no more risk than other submissions of confidential information on the Internet and you know it, even IF they did collect the data which we have been discussing. All the current evidence points to them not collecting said information.

I read the entire article too. Just like I read your comments. Funny how you make an assumption from a very general comment. My point all along is that people using this service should understand the potential risks of using it. That's all.

I expected more from you.

"Wow. How did you come to that conclusion? Did you read something that I didn't? Look now at who's making assumptions. Until I hear otherwise, I would be wary of using this solution."

Yea, I read the entire article instead of taking things out of context, like you are doing with my comments.

"Because your web browsing will be done through a remote server, it's POSSIBLE for Skyfire to keep track of all the sites you visit and all the data you enter, including passwords, credit card numbers, etc."

The key word in that phrase is "possible" not "definitely" collecting credit card numbers and passwords. That is where the speculation is, if he knew for sure that this was happening, he would have stated such. You are misinterpreting his statement and assigning it more precision than it actually has. That is called a higher precision falacy, comonly known as sensationalizing.

The reason it is only possible is that just because data passes through a server and is cached during the session does not mean that it is being collected and stored for any longer than the session is active. There Privacy Policy states what information they collect after the session has ended and NOWHERE does it state that they are collecting financial, username or password information. If anything, Skyfire's response:

"I spoke with Skyfire CEO Nitin Bhandari about this, and he assured me that his company takes its customer's privacy seriously."

is indicating that they are NOT collecting the financial, username and password data beyond the session and there is nothing suggesting otherwise besides the speculative statement by Ed from BH.

I am well aware of how the technology works, and this is no more of an issue than I have already elaborated on. The fact that it COULD be happening does not mean that it IS happening anymore than someone COULD be acquiring said information via sniffing an unprotected public WiFi hotspot, cellphone data connection or regular old Internet connection. The latter may even be more probable and prevalent.

So it stands as with ALL submissions of financial, medical, username and password data on the Internet. Be cautious of who you are giving the information to and keep tabs on your credit and other potentially affected personal matters and affairs to ensure that your information is not being abused or maliciously used against you.

Otherwise, I say enjoy being able to do all the things that you could not do on your mobile device before.

"I spoke with Skyfire CEO Nitin Bhandari about this, and he assured me that his company takes its customer's privacy seriously."

"is indicating that they are NOT collecting the financial, username and password data beyond the session and there is nothing suggesting that is the case other than the speculative statement by Ed from BH."

Wow. How did you come to that conclusion? Did you read something that I didn't? Look now at who's making assumptions. Until I hear otherwise, I would be wary of using this solution.

From BH:

"One of the reasons this browser is so fast and full-featured is it's server based. When you're opening a web page with your smartphone, it's actually being opened on a Skyfire server, which then sends an image of the page to your device.

The advantages of this are numerous, but there's a drawback, too: privacy. Because your web browsing will be done through a remote server, it's possible for Skyfire to keep track of all the sites you visit and all the data you enter, including passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

I spoke with Skyfire CEO Nitin Bhandari about this, and he assured me that his company takes its customer's privacy seriously. Still, this is something you should keep in mind."

From your explanation, I really don't think you understand the difference between submitting data to a website and submitting secure data through a backend proxy server which is caching, logging and rending the data and pages you see on your client device.

This IS an issue and anyone wishing to use the service should be aware of it. If it wasn't, would the CEO of SkyFire discuss the issue with Ed from Brighthand?

"This issue has even been confirmed by the people at Skyfire which is why they have already mentioned that security will be a very high priority for them."

Where has Skyfire confirmed that they are actually collecting credit card, username and password information from third party websites accessed through their servers?

Until I see this validateable statement from SkyFire, then I consider these claims as just speculation from the beta testers and others spreading the rumors, since there currently is NOWHERE in their privacy policy that states the collection of afforementioned data is occurring. In addition, I will soon be a beta tester myself to see how well this software delivers on it's promises.

It's a given that security will be a high priority for them as it should be for all, and any websites where information is being collected in a personally identifiable manner.

What needs to be kept in mind is that fact that NO website or Internet service has a 100%, foolproof security solution for data submitted via the Internet. These measures put into place are merely speed bumps to make it more difficult for data to be exploited, not to extinguish the risk that cannot be extinguished.

I believe that these expressed concerns are nothing more than sensationalization playing on people's fears.

Basically, don't believe the HYPE.

Not my claim. It's the claim of the reviewer(s) who have had the opportunity to be in on the private beta. This issue has even been confirmed by the people at Skyfire which is why they have already mentioned that security will be a very high priority for them.

First of all, your claim that credit card information and the like being collected by SkyFire servers is pure speculation. There is nothing in the policy that states this will be the case.

The fact that the information goes through their servers has minimally more risk associated with it vs sending your information directly to a website via an unprotected WiFi network. Increasingly common practice, especially in hotels and free public networks. In addition, if your under the impression that cell data networks are impeneterable to sniffing, you are sadly mistaken.

Getting back to Google, since there is no policy for collecting or using financial information from 3rd party websites or any of the other information which has been mentioned via SkyFire, their privacy policy is virtually identical to Google's policy. That was the only comparison that I made and I am sure that everyone else here got that.

Your strawman argument regarding a comparison of the weight of information at risk between the two companies (a comparison which I never made) had nothing to do with my comparison of the two companies' policies.

I work in IT and develop both internet and intranet applications that deal with both secure and non-secure information. You have as much chance of your number being abused internally from the company you business with as you do from using it over the net.

I am not sure why you brought up the Google comparison as it really doesn't pertain to the level of personal security that could be compromised (based on usage) when using SkyFire.

This says it all (with emphasis on the last part of the sentence):

" Because your web browsing will be done through a remote server, it's possible for Skyfire to keep track of all the sites you visit and all the data you enter, including passwords, credit card numbers, etc."

Soo...who said anything about Google tracking being the exact same as through rendering servers??

I mentioned Google as an example of your privacy not being guaranteed on the Internet. Your kidding yourself if you believe that your credit card information is being kept private, when you use the Internet.

"This is from the same thread you coppied yours from JN. Have you read the Privacy Policy for Google lately. You will find a stunning similarity. In addition, it will stand for ANY server side rendering browser software that they will be able to see ALL information that you submit to the web."


Degrees of information and privacy of course. Submitting a search query on Google doesn't compare with submitting your bank or credit card password thru Skyfire's servers.

"Oh, btw, try calling MS and getting support for your Opera Mobile browser. See how far you get. :)"

I agree with you on this. Fortunately, that is clearly not what I was talking about. ;)

"It's clearly info to enable targeted advertising. Probably no more information than if you use anything else online."

This is from the same thread you coppied yours from JN. Have you read the Privacy Policy for Google lately. You will find a stunning similarity. In addition, it will stand for ANY server side rendering browser software that they will be able to see ALL information that you submit to the web.

If it is that secret to you, then you should just use the onboard browser software to do stuff with sensitive information. Not that this is any more secure since the information is being broadcast wirelessly, over miles of distance and through at least 10s of routers. In short, if you want to be really secure you should just deliver the information personally. lol

Oh, btw, try calling MS and getting support for your Opera Mobile browser. See how far you get. :)

It won't have jack-diddly beat if people actually understand the potential privacy issues that this "service" is presenting.

This is from their privacy policy:

"Once you have subscribed to and begin to use the Browser, we will collect information about your use of the Browser on your Device (“Browser Usage Information”). Browser Usage Information includes such information as which websites and programs you access or download on your Device, how long you visit such websites and use such programs, your activities (such as products purchased or advertisements viewed) on such websites, which specific areas of a website or webpage you use and for how long, websites you bookmark, search terms you use, referring/exit pages, browser and platform types, the geographic location in which your Device is being used and information you provide on third party websites. All of your Browser Usage Information is stored by Skyfire under an automatically generated, random identification number (“ID Number”) that will not be associated with or linked to your Personal Information. Please be aware, though, that your Browser Usage Information, when viewed in the aggregate, may reveal your identity even if it is not associated with or linked to your Personal Information."

http://www.coolsmartphone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11992

No thanks.

According to MS, Deepfish works the same way with server side rendering:

http://labs.live.com/deepfish/whatis.aspx

Seems to me that Apple just was not concerned about how slow the browsing experience is through EDGE. I guess since the device came with WiFi they figured it would be easy to hook people knowing how good it could be with a high speed service. Possibly forward thinking for their 3G phone.

MS and everyone else were concerned about getting to your content quicker via a slow internet connection GPRS way back when and EDGE now. Without question, you can get to your content much quicker via PIE vs Safari. Now that the higher speed networks are proliferating it appears that everyone is in the game of improving the browsing experience beyond just merely getting at your content quickly. Even Safari may come out with Flash and Java support on the 3G version of iPhone.

Currently, however, this software has Safari beat, hands down if it actually materializes.

Dave, you know how MS is, they push developers to fill in the gaps. Look at how much trouble MS gets into when they totally integrate everything in their OS. Apple seems to get away with murder when it comes to locking out software competition. When was the last time you could put a third party browser on the iPhone and still have it supported by Apple. (answer: NEVER)

That's my take on it.

I am concerned obviously about what you say about security but even if i just use it for youtube and other flash based sites that are a no go with pie its worth using it. How can apple develop a browser thats so far in advance of everyone elses on a mobile platform?

Not sure about Deepfish, but Mini and Thunderhawk do work that way.

Got it, but ThunderHawk, DeepFish and Opera Mini do work that way right?

Has Microsoft done the right thing with any of their recent software product offerings?? Me thinks not.

Wow Jerry that is pretty pathetic! Why cant Microsoft just do the right thing and build a secure and reliable browser..

Phys no the iphone doesnt work that way..

The iPhone doesn't use a back-end page pricessing sever. It's all client based as it is for the N95 browser.

Isn't that how the iPhone browser works, as well as ThunderHawk, Opera Mini and even the forth coming WM PIE upgrade?

"The advantages of this are numerous, but there's a drawback, too: privacy. Because your web browsing will be done through a remote server, it's possible for Skyfire to keep track of all the sites you visit and all the data you enter, including passwords, credit card numbers, etc."


Hmm.......