Thanks. I updated the title. I think I impulsively posted this as a commentary on app permissions in general. Android is notorious for the ominous but very granular permissions. Apple is better but they still have that gaping security hole where any app can read or write to your personal address book.

It appears GET_TASK may be used to prevent ad loading when the app is backgrounded. Mobclix.

Also, it appears if I remove the Amazon App Store app, some apps simply refuse to let you run them, asking for you to launch the Amazon App Store. I think the Amazon released apps, some of them, may be phoning the mothership. I am not yet concerned or paranoid enough to sniff the net traffic with a proxy.

Yeah, if you scroll down to the reviews, it seems like that is certainly the chief complaint.