Stressed out? Overwhelmed? Neck in knots? Stomach a mess? Welcome to 2020. These Garmin fitness trackers have you covered. They do all the usual fitness tracking stuff like activity, heart rate, sleep monitoring and more. They also track the time interval between each heartbeat and use that to figure out how stressed you are. If you get too stressed, they will vibrate and remind you to take a moment to breath. Deep breath everyone, this sounds like just what we need to survive 2020.
What could happen if something goes wrong?
When one of our researchers for this guide wanted to get a fitness tracker, Garmin is what she went with. In large part because Garmin seems to do one of the best jobs handling the privacy and security of all the personal data fitness trackers collect of the many options out there. Garmin doesn't share or sell your data for marketing purposes. And 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. Is our researcher happy with her decision so far? Yes, she is. Although it does make her a little nervous that she now leaves her phone's Bluetooth on all the time.
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: No
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: No
App: No
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, email address
Body related
Heart rate, movement, sleep data, menstrual cycle, and more
Social
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?
Garmin was subject to a ransomware attack that took it offline for 3 days in July of 2020. No customer data was compromised.
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
Uses encryption in transit and at rest.
Strong password
Security updates
Updates are pushed automatically when you pair your device with the companion app.
Manages vulnerabilities
Garmin doesn't have an official bug bounty program, but it invites responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities.
Privacy policy
Garmin has a privacy summary page that highlights the high level points in a easy to read format.
Does the product use AI?
Is this AI untrustworthy?
What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?
Is the company transparent about how the AI works?
Does the user have control over the AI features?
Dive Deeper
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Ransomware attack on Garmin thought to be the work of 'Evil Corp'The Guardian
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How to make sure your fitness trackers are secureThe Verge
Comments
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