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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

#71

Post by close04 »

pmarreck wrote: post #50
Retric wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I just got rid of my Fitbit and never spoke of it on social media. My guess is it’s limited a few thousand to low tens of thousands of people which is not economically meaningful on it’s own. But, it does show another side of the privacy debate. Many companies are selling data not because it’s significant revenue, but rather because they have no reason to leave money on the table.…

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…

But look at how Google approaches this topic (were you even aware they had this data?) compared to Apple who advertises very clearly that they will use it in studies, etc. It's not only what you do but how you do it also. Transparency can go a long way.

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

#72

Post by Erlich_Bachman »

pmarreck wrote: post #50
Retric wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I just got rid of my Fitbit and never spoke of it on social media. My guess is it’s limited a few thousand to low tens of thousands of people which is not economically meaningful on it’s own. But, it does show another side of the privacy debate. Many companies are selling data not because it’s significant revenue, but rather because they have no reason to leave money on the table.…

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…

Because it is -never - going to be anonymized. They are going to call it anonymized, and then publicly apologize for it not being so a couple of times, while keeping business as usual. There is just no incentive for them to anonymize it.

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

#73

Post by agumonkey »

ravenstine wrote: post #53
vader1 wrote: post #37

I bought a Garmin the day Fitbit sold out and haven't touched the Fitbit since. I'm very happy with the switch, the Garmin (Vivosmart 4) app and device are actually better than Fitbit's on almost every account, so that's a double win :) The only unfortunate consequence is that Garmin's import service only imports very coarse data from your Fitbit export, so all detailed historic records are lost unless you manually d…

I'd buy a Garmin if they provided a FitBit importer.

open source and reverse engineers assemble

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

#74

Post by diffeomorphism »

onion2k wrote: post #66
thecatspaw wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there should be a threshold. Otherwise the newspaper is gonna be full of articles which are not interesting at all to the general population.

There should be editorial judgement about whether or not something is worth publishing. That is not, and shouldn't be, a quantitative threshold.

An editorial judgement however absolutely should take quantities into account.

What were discussing here is whether the editor's judgement was poor and not whether there is some magical, exact "this is newsworthy" criterion.

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

#75

Post by jschwartzi »

PaulHoule wrote: post #67
almost_usual wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I search on Bing. I still have a Google account (in fact several) but I hardly ever log in. I use it when I have to for work, but if I have any choice I use Microsoft Office instead of Google docs. Mainly I use JIRA, Slack, and tools from other vendors. I use Fastmail and EM Client for my personal mail. You get what you (do or don't) pay for. I have a Fitbit Alta HR, mainly because it is smaller than a conventional w…

Take a look at Garmin watches. I replaced my fitbit with a Garmin as soon as I found out about the buyout and I couldn't be happier. It's much more capable than the Fitbit was and Garmin has an actual privacy policy instead of a ways in which we sell your data policy.

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

#76

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

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

#77

Post by degenerate »

onion2k wrote: post #66
thecatspaw wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there should be a threshold. Otherwise the newspaper is gonna be full of articles which are not interesting at all to the general population.

There should be editorial judgement about whether or not something is worth publishing. That is not, and shouldn't be, a quantitative threshold.

That editorial judgement is exactly why most articles with no actual content are published in the first place - "We need to beef up this headline so it reaches more people"

Correct headline would have been "A handful of Fitbit users are..." but it wouldn't get clicks. The editors are to blame most of the time for doing a disservice to their readers.

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

#78

Post by jschwartzi »

TheCondor wrote: post #51

I’ve owned/own 4 Fitbit products and was planning my change before this news. The privacy thing is an issue but compared to your phone, it’s pretty small potatoes. The issue that really irks is the products seem to take software updates that make them worse, often with bad bugs. Like my ionic will vibrate when a phone call comes in and continue to until the call ends. Bands wear out too quickly and are expensive to r…

I was planning on switching to iPhone at some point next year while I figure out how to replace the smart phone with a dumb phone plus other devices.

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

#79

Post by [deleted] »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #57
supercanuck wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is wrong with using Twitter as a source? This is how people communicate in 2019 What method would serve you better?

It's purely anecdotal. Nothing meaningful. Did these people even own Fitbits in the first place? Have they even been using them recently? How many have actually thrown them away? It's representative of nothing.

[deleted]

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

#80

Post by flattone »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #59
flattone wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm getting rid of everything. I want a bumper sticker "burn fb,goo, etc to the ground"

Bumber stickers are simple to make. If you're so passionate about this, why haven't you made one yet?

It's just perfect that you asked. With the environment of things relating to this article but in no specific terms........ I feel uncomfortable putting these words on my car...in the US.
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