Eufy Smart Scale

According to Eufy’s privacy policy, they do say they can collect a good deal of personal information on you -- things like name, email, gender, birth date, location, device information, and of course this device collects health data like heart rate, weight, and BMI. And while Eufy says they don’t sell your personal information -- which is good -- they say they can use some of that information to show you ads from them and third party advertisers, which isn’t so good (but also pretty standard on the internet these days).

They also say they can collect personal information on you from third parties who provide it to them, such as law enforcement authorities. This worries us a bit because the way that line in their privacy policy is written is rather vague and seems like it could leave open the possibility they could collect information on users from a variety of third parties, for example, data brokers. And finally, Eufy says they can use your personal information to profile you for the purpose of offering you personalized promotions and discounts. So if you get offered a screaming discount for that weight loss plan and your buddy doesn’t, it could be because Eufy knows more about you than you might want them to know.

It’s great we found no known security breaches of Eufy’s smart scales. Unfortunately, Eufy has had some significant security vulnerabilities with their security cameras. In June 2022, security experts found three security vulnerabilities in Eufy's Homebase 2 video storage and management device that could have allowed hackers to take control of the hub, control it remotely, or steal video footage. Eufy/Anker developed fixes for these security vulnerabilities and released them to users in a timely manner. And in May 2021, Eufy was forced to apologize for a bug that exposed the camera feeds of 712 users to strangers. Eufy said the glitch happened during a software update and “users were able to access video feeds from other users’ cameras.” Eufy said in a statement the glitch was fixed an hour after it was discovered. So, the bad news is, Eufy’s security cameras have had some serious security issues. The good news is, Eufy seems to have stepped up and immediately fixed these bugs and to get them out to their users quickly.

So, the bad news is, Eufy’s security cameras have had some serious security issues. The good news is, Eufy as a company seems to have stepped up and immediately fixed these bugs and to get the updates out to their users quickly. While these security oopsies happened to their video cameras, not their smart scale, it’s a good reminder that bugs happen and software updates can go wrong, which wouldn’t be good for your smart scale (although, you’re probably less vulnerable to a bug in your smart scale than your security camera or smart lock).

What’s the worst that could happen? Well, nobody wants those sixteen body measurements -- including your visceral fat -- shared out to the world. You probably also don’t want to be profiled by the data this smart scale could collect to offer you discounts and promotions. It would suck to be working hard to get back in shape, put on some pounds of muscle, Eufy sees those extra pounds and you start seing ads for discounts on weight loss supplements and that makes you feel bad about gaining weight when you’re really just getting strong and gaining muscle. OK, that might not happen. But, who knows maybe it’s not that far fetched either.

One last thing, if you chose to share data from your Eufy smart scale with a third-party like Fitbit, Google Fit or Apple Health, then you must rely on those companies to keep your personal information secure too. That means more privacy policies to read and more places your data could be vulnerable to leaks or breaches.