Fitbit Versa 3
It's a watch! It's a sleep tracker! It's a heart rate monitor! It's a swim/workout/meditation coach. It's a motivational, inspirational, health pal. It's almost everything but a kitchen sink. It will notify, buzz, and ding to get you off your butt and out doing stuff. It's got Alexa built-in (because, what doesn't have Alexa built-in these days), and comes with a variety of bands to help you look good at the gym or at the office. Here's to tracking everything about your life with ease.
What could happen if something goes wrong?
As of January 14, 2021, Google officially became the owner of Fitbit. That worried many privacy conscious users. However, Google promised that “Fitbit users’ health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads and this data will be kept separate from other Google ad data” as part of the deal with global regulators when they bought Fitbit. This is good.
And Fitbit seems to do an OK job with privacy and security. It de-identifies the data it collects so it's (hopefully) not personally identifiable. We say hopefully because, depending on the kind of data, it’s been found to be pretty easy to de-anonymize these data sets and track down an individual’s patterns, especially with location data. So, be aware with Fitbit--or any fitness tracker--you are strapping on a device that tracks your location, heart rate, sleep patterns, and more. That's a lot of personal information gathered in one place.
What is not good is what can happen with all this very personal health data if others aren't careful. A recent report showed that health data for over 61 million fitness tracker users, including both Fitbit and Apple, was exposed when a third party company that allowed users to sync their health data from their fitness trackers did not secure the data properly. Personal information such as names, birthdates, weight, height, gender, and geographical location for Fitbit and other fitness tracker users was left exposed because the company didn't password protect or encrypt their database. This is a great reminder that yes, while Fitbit might do a good job with their own security, anytime you sync or share that data with anyone else, it could be vulnerable. And Fitbit partners with many third parties such as employers and insurance companies. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need the world to know my weight and where I live. That’s really dang creepy.
Tips to protect yourself
- Follow Fitbit's advice to keep your stats private
- Be very careful what third party companies you consent to share you health data with. If you do decided to share your health data with another company, read their privacy policy to see how they protect, secure, and share or sell your data.
- Stop sharing friends' lists: Under “Friends” on your profile page, select Privacy Setting and then Private.
Security
A.I.
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: No
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: No
App: Yes
Tracks location
Device: Yes
App: Yes
What can be used to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third-party account
No
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Name, date of birth, gender, photo (optional)
Body related
Heart rate, movement, sleep data, menstrual cycle, and more
Social
Fitbit connections
How does the company use this data?
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?
Unfortunately, Fitbit's security measures did not prevent the major data leak of 61 million fitness tracker data records, including Fitbit user data, by the third party company GetHealth. In September 2021, a group of security researchers discovered GetHealth had an unsecured database containing over 61 million records related to wearable technology and fitness services. GetHealth accessed health data belonging to wearable device users around the world and leaked it in an non-password protected, unencrypted database. The list contained names, birthdates, weight, height, gender, and geographical location, as well as other medical data, such as blood pressure.
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
Despite being acquired by Google, Fitbit keeps its own privacy policy, written it relatively simple language.
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
Strong password
To create a Fitbit account, users are required to provide strong, complex, passwords during onboarding.
Comments
Got a comment? Let us hear it.