Garmin Vivo Series

Garmin Vivo Series

Garmin
Bluetooth

Review date: Nov. 2, 2020

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Mozilla says

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People voted: Somewhat creepy
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.
  • mobile

Can it snoop on me? information

Camera

Device: No

App: Yes

Microphone

Device: No

App: No

Tracks location

Device: Yes

App: Yes

What can be used to sign up?

What data does the company collect?

How does the company use this data?

Garmin says it does not share data with third parties for commercial or marketing purposes.

How can you control your data?

You can choose not to sync the device with the app. You can request that data be deleted.

What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?

Average

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?

Yes

User-friendly privacy information?

Yes

Links to privacy information

Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards? information

Yes

Encryption

Yes

Uses encryption in transit and at rest.

Strong password

Yes

Security updates

Yes

Updates are pushed automatically when you pair your device with the companion app.

Manages vulnerabilities

Yes

Garmin doesn't have an official bug bounty program, but it invites responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities.

Privacy policy

Yes

Garmin has a privacy summary page that highlights the high level points in a easy to read format.

Does the product use AI? information

Yes

Is this AI untrustworthy?

Can’t Determine

What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?

Is the company transparent about how the AI works?

Can’t Determine

Does the user have control over the AI features?

Can’t Determine

*Privacy Not Included

Dive Deeper

  • Ransomware attack on Garmin thought to be the work of 'Evil Corp'
    The Guardian Link opens in a new tab
  • How to make sure your fitness trackers are secure
    The Verge Link opens in a new tab

Comments

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