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Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

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Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#171

Post by munk-a »

JohnFen wrote: post #153
pmarreck wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never felt harmed or threatened by the idea that my anonymized data (health or otherwise) is being used by large organizations... assuming it is anonymized. As far as I can see, there are many good uses of this data (some potentially profitable, such as selling to health insurance companies so they can better price their products and evaluate risks) and very few bad uses of this data. Can someone please clarif…

> assuming it is anonymized. In the age of Big Data, there's only one way for data to be anonymized -- it needs to be aggregated with all the other data, and the original individual data records need to be deleted.

And sadly that's never going to happen because those individual data records are valuable.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#172

Post by JohnFen »

cosmojg wrote: post #100
nkrisc wrote: post #5

I had recently begun considering a smart watch to replace my original Pebble, and was considering Fitbit, but this is exactly why I won't be going with them. I'm slowly De-Googling and spreading my digital life across multiple providers instead of being at the mercy of a single one. I don't expect my total privacy exposure will be significantly less, but it's more about not having my email, media purchases, phone int…

PINE64 is working on a privacy-respecting Linux smartwatch dubbed the PineTime: https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PineTime Once my Pebble Time dies, I think that's where I'm going.

Yes, I'm very interested in this as well. My Pebble is still working fine, but the day will come when I need to replace it, and this is the only thing I've seen that looks like it might be able to do that.

The page says that it's 5 years away from release, though.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#173

Post by JohnFen »

npongratz wrote: post #143
mscasts wrote: post #61

Pro tip for Fitbit users that want a great alternative: https://www.withings.com/

At first glance, these products looked compelling. But how is Withings actually any better? Per https://www.withings.com/us/en/legal/privacy-policy : >"How do we use your personal data? ... >Marketing, advertising and making recommendations[.] Your personal data may be used to offer surveys, competitions, discount coupons or events in which you are free to participate. We may provide you with information on our Produ…

Ugh, that privacy policy really is a total showstopper.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#174

Post by JohnFen »

guyzero wrote: post #127

This is fine, people can do what they want, but they're deluding themselves if they think small companies are perfect stewards of data. How exactly do these people know that Fitbit wasn't already selling their data using it in a way they don't approve of?

One advantage of smaller companies is that the amount of damage they can do is more limited.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#176

Post by JohnFen »

abalone wrote: post #109

> Google explicitly said in the deal announcement that it won’t sell their personal or health data. That’s not all. Google also said they will not use your data to target ads. In a forward looking statement about the deal. That’s significant.

This sounds snarky, but I honestly don't intend it that way... Google's statements on this are only significant if you trust Google.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#177

Post by rurp »

almost_usual wrote: post #54
MichaelApproved wrote: post #19

Classic example of an article in search of a movement. Take a handful of tweets that share an opinion and write an article that makes it seem like there's a mass exodus. It's ok, you don't need anything more than a handful of tweets to back your claim. Yes, some people are privacy conscious and are going to stop using Fitbit but how many are actually doing it? A lot? A few? Who knows. I'm sure author has no clue but…

A better question is how many people do you think trust Google and is that number growing? Google feels like a spouse who cheated on you. You don’t trust them but you haven’t found a better option yet. I can’t imagine that helps them competitively in the long run.

> Google feels like a spouse who cheated on you. You don’t trust them but you haven’t found a better option yet.

This is a great analogy! It's crazy how much my opinion of Google has changed in the past decade or so. Judging by comments on HackerNews and elsewhere, many others feel the same.

I also feel similarly about Amazon. I enjoy using it less and less, but it's been hard to completely drop.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#178

Post by ggggtez »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #19

Classic example of an article in search of a movement. Take a handful of tweets that share an opinion and write an article that makes it seem like there's a mass exodus. It's ok, you don't need anything more than a handful of tweets to back your claim. Yes, some people are privacy conscious and are going to stop using Fitbit but how many are actually doing it? A lot? A few? Who knows. I'm sure author has no clue but…

You know, back in the old days you used to make clickbait headlines using anecdata like cherry picked search terms on Google Trends.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=cancel%20f...

I tried a bunch of different terms, but still, I see no evidence of any exodus of any kind.

Re: Some users say they're getting rid of Fitbit because they don't trust Google

#180

Post by 9dl »

nkrisc wrote: post #165
9dl wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What for you will use "smart watch"? For real. There is not so much they can do and even less they can do properly

Same things I used my Pebble for. Read and send canned responses to texts. See who's calling me. Read emails. Check bus/train schedule. Basically an extension of my phone. You can debate the "smart" label if you like, but the semantics don't really concern me.

I'm more about "fitness and heath" aspect of such devices

And probably just hate small displays in general

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