Fitbit users will have to sign into Google from 2023
- Reference: 1663958169
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/09/23/fitbit_accounts_to_be_replaced/
- Source link:
As of now, owners of Fitbit devices maintain a separate online account that isn't connected to Google, except where users have granted third-party app permissions to link Fitbit data to Google's own apps or use their Gmail account to login. That's set to change "sometime in 2023," Fitbit said, [1]touting the move as a good thing for its users.
"A single login for Fitbit and other Google services, industry-leading account security, centralized privacy controls for Fitbit user data, and more" were cited by the Google subsidiary as reasons its customers will appreciate the change.
[2]
Not all users of Fitbit will be required to sign in with a Google account immediately in 2023. When the switchover takes place next year, new Fitbit users that sign up for an account will have to do so with a Google account that is linked to Fitbit, as will existing customers who upgrade to a new Fitbit device or wish to activate new features.
[3]
[4]
Those not caught up in that change can keep their FitBit accounts for another few years.
"Support of Fitbit accounts will continue until at least early 2025. After support of Fitbit accounts ends, a Google account will be required to use Fitbit," the company said.
What's the real privacy story?
[5]From its CEO on down, Fitbit has reiterated multiple times that Google had made [6]binding commitments with the European Commission (EC) in 2020 as a condition of the Fitbit acquisition.
Among other things, Google agreed to keep Fitbit user data siloed from its systems and to not use said data to target advertisements at Fitbit customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) for a period of 10 years.
[7]
"This deal has always been about devices, not data, and we've been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users' privacy," Google's SVP of Products and Services, Rick Osterloh, [8]said when the acquisition closed in early 2021.
Osterloh said Google made "a series of binding commitments that confirm Fitbit users' health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads and this data will be separated from other Google ads data," but in all the statements from both companies, they do not address the fact that the binding agreement made with the EC only affects the EEA.
Google has previously failed to live up to promises to give users control of their data, most recently when it was [9]seen collecting phone call and SMS data sent through default Android apps. Concerns like these likely prompted 20 consumer rights groups to issue [10]an open letter to regulators around the world urging close scrutiny of Google's Fitbit purchase.
[11]
We reached out to Google to get more specifics on its plan for data and asked whether or not its EC agreement would apply to customers in the rest of the world, but haven't heard back.
Sports watch users considering a different fitness tracker who are concerned about the sign-in might wish to avoid [12]Samsung , too. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2478.htm
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yy4seWS6qco3uRQKqtzIAAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yy4seWS6qco3uRQKqtzIAAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yy4seWS6qco3uRQKqtzIAAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://blog.fitbit.com/2021-update/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/14/google_fitbit_data/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yy4seWS6qco3uRQKqtzIAAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://blog.google/products/devices-services/fitbit-acquisition/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/21/google_messages_gdpr/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/02/open_letter_google_fitbit_competition/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yy4seWS6qco3uRQKqtzIAAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/google_samsung_merge_wearable_oses/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: That’s gone then.
I have two Fitbits one with a UI and one that is just a band. The UI one was for day to day use and monitor gym sessions. The band was used for swimming. But I have not used them for almost two years because Google now own them.
Now while I found the Fitbit to be a very useful tool in the Gym for setting workout routines, I am not wiling to share my data with Google* for it.
*Yes I know Google have all my data Fitbit already had, nothing I can do about that, but I am not going to give them anymore.
I'll be done after the next time change
The Fitbit mobile app will not install on my cellphone, so I have been managing it using the desktop browser. Fitbit has already announced that desktop browser management will be discontinued in October, which means my watch will be an hour out of sync with local time when it switches from daylight to standard.
Can the loophole have a loophole?
What if Google aggregates anonymized data from anonymized apps? The fitness data might be from Fitbit but there'd be no way of knowing for sure. It could be from Maps, the Weather widget, a smartwatch, and other sources. Surely they've figured this out or they would have already turned the Fitbit system off
Re: Can the loophole have a loophole?
What if Google aggregates anonymized data from anonymized apps?
I think the loophole is glaring from the statement-
Osterloh said Google made "a series of binding commitments that confirm Fitbit users' health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads and this data will be separated from other Google ads data,"
But AlphaGoo will share and sell the data to it's medical divsion, healthcare companies, insurers etc etc.
Some back story: I'm actively looking for a fitness tracker, with some specific requirements.
While fitbit checked most of the boxes, what took them off my 'will consider' list was the inconsistent build quality and QA across their range, and the most irritating of all, the fact that most of the features I want under the "must have" list all required signing up for the premium service.
Bias: I had a gen 1 fitbit Flex way back when, and stopped using it when it decided one fine day to not interact with it's charging cradle, no matter how much I futzed with it.
Exactly why I didn't buy another fitbit when my old one died.
That’s gone then.
No hope that my FatBat is going to be Googled.