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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

#81

Post by magashna »

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…

I don't have a fitbit but this move and the recent nuking of accounts because of youtube have gotten me to shift all my email to another service.

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

#82

Post by umeshunni »

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…

Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2159/

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

#83

Post by magashna »

supercanuck wrote: post #55
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…

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

Obviously man on the street is more legitimate.

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

#84

Post by martin_a »

I'm using a Fitbit and I'm thinking about just uninstalling the app.

The watch is set up like I want it to, it can show my heartbeat during training, the steps of the day and the time. Obviously without the app and data synchronisation I will not get weekly fitness reports, but I don't really care about those.

Maybe my next watch will be a dumb one again. Didn't get that much out of a smart watch as I expected.

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

#85

Post by mistermann »

onion2k wrote: post #60
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…

Yes, some people are privacy conscious and are going to stop using Fitbit but how many are actually doing it? A lot? A few? There's nothing wrong with reporting that a small number of people are publicly announcing that they're binning their Fitbit devices. They are, and they weren't before, so that's news. Are you suggesting there should be threshold an event should have to pass before it becomes newsworthy? Who wou…

> There's nothing wrong with reporting that a small number of people are publicly announcing that they're binning their Fitbit devices.

This specific incident is surely rather harmless, but I wonder if the same can be said about this type of thing.

>> ...but how many are actually doing it? A lot? A few? Who knows. I'm sure has no clue but that won't stop them from writing .

I feel like it would be improvement if individuals and overall society (especially thoughts leaders) considered the potential importance of this general idea. I have a speculative armchair theory that the incredible changes in the amount and style of information (news, memes, forum discussions) people consume due to the introduction of the internet and 24 hour cable news is doing something to humans on a deep psychological basis, that it may be significantly altering our heuristics in a historically abnormal way, resulting in a large amount of incorrect perceptions and negative behaviors.

Is this really happening, might there be some truth to this, could some people be truly affected by this? A lot? A few? Who knows. But if it is happening, to a degree that is non-negligible, and nobody notices, how damaging might the effects be? Could this, say, affect how people treat others on a daily basis? Might it play a role in how they vote in elections, or make personal decisions on various public policy matters? To me, these seem like questions worth considering.

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

#86

Post by mavsman »

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…

Any idea how data exporting is with the Vivosmart 4? I thought about getting one but one of my main use cases for getting a fitness tracker is exporting data and then creating custom visualizations from it. I haven't dug into this world much yet but curious what the best hardware would be for this use case.

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

#88

Post by fluidcruft »

criddell wrote: post #21
ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

For me the change is ownership was just the last straw, their incredibly crappy app and the difficulty in downloading my data was a more significant factor.

Same here. I'm not going to use a health monitoring device from an advertising company.

I flip-flop on that. I mean you just get more relevant and useful ads? Running shoes on sale? Cool if I need some.

But you also don't want ads publicizing private health info to people who are nearby. Like, I don't want to sit down and watch "TV" at a friends house and have to wonder why I'm seeing ad after ad for valtrex.

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

#89

Post by kylebenzle »

Retric wrote: post #23
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…

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 got rid of mine too and only mentioned it to my Wife. I had no idea anyone else would have been thinking the same thing!

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

#90

Post by vader1 »

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.

They do: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=HfJ4xPchdD3cmZ2qtDpOR8...

But it currently only imports coarse data, e.g. your average heartrate on a given day. Not the granular minute-by-minute information.

Sleep statistics currently aren't imported at all.

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