One of the latest crazes in the technology industry is wearable technology. Consumers love technology that integrates into their everyday life and help them better their lives in one way or another. One of the leading brands in wearable technology is Fitbit. Fitbit, which had an annual revenue of 1.63 billion in 2017, sells wristbands (among other wearable trackers) which track your fitness progress, among other things. Some other information the platform collects are your steps, your heart rate, your sleep, your caloric intake, etc. Users can track their progress on an app on their phone or through the Fitbit website. Unfortunately this information, which is supposed to be used by just the user in order to track their progress, ends up being stored and shared online which can be seen by more than just the user. Having personal data shared online makes the users data no longer private, which is a huge invasion of privacy.
In order to set up your Fitbit, you must give your name, email address, height, weight, and gender. Once it is set up, it begins collecting all the additional information such as your daily step count. According to Fitbit’s privacy policy posted on their website, this information is used to maintain services, improve and personalize the services and provide safety and security for its users. Fitbit also uses third parties in order to advertise to their users and create a bigger profit for the company. This causes privacy issues because the information is no longer just being viewed by the user and the data collectors and Fitbit, but are now being viewed by others as well.
A study which was done by the University of Toronto and Open Effect, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to research and advocacy in ensuring people’s personal data is treated securely and accountably, studied the top 7 wearable fitness trackers in order to see just how protected the users privacy actually is. This included Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, and a few other less recognizable brands. They found that most of the fitness trackers which they studied did not protect users privacy very well. When looking at Fitbit, they discovered that they were able to not only collect information such as the users name and email address, but also geolocation, phone serial number, IMEI number (which can be used to track a user’s location), and reproductive health information. This very personal information which should be kept private, ends up being shared or collected by more than just the fitness tracking company. Having your location tracked is an extreme invasion of privacy and very scary to think about. Information, such as reproductive health and location, should not be shared due to the user wearing a tracker they purchased to track their fitness goals.
Having the latest fitness tracker may seem like a cool thing to purchase, but users must be aware of the risk they are taking by wearing one; your information is no longer private and can be used in order to sell you things more personalized to you, or it may even be used against you. In December of 2015, a man was convicted for the murder of his wife due to his statement not matching up with this murdered wife’s Fitbit tracker. Although it is good that this case was solved and the woman’s family got justice, it is very unsettling to think that a Fitbit has so much information on it that it could potentially put someone away for life. According to the US Supreme Court, police officials need a search warrant in order to search a cell phone. However, the law is a little hazy when it comes to fitness trackers. Fitbit’s policy states that they only share data if the law require of it.
In 1996, legislation was passed in the United States called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (also known as HIPAA) in order to protect people’s medical information. According to the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, the term “privacy” doesn’t appear in HIPAA titles but “attention to privacy is critical to achieving its goals.” This legislation being passed in 1996 is a step in the right direction in terms of protecting people’s private medical information. However, a lot has changed since 1996 and wearable technology now has the ability to collect some medical information which needs to be protected. In 1996, we could not have predicted the way we advanced our technology and wearable technology, like Fitbits, are not protected under HIPAA.
There are a few solutions that could be implemented in order to protect user’s data and to educate the users of wearable technology that collects private data like the Fitbit and other companies collect. The first solution, in relation to protecting user data, would be to update laws like HIPAA, in order to protect private health related information. As our society continues to advance technologically, as should our laws. Health data is no longer only be collected at the doctor’s office and it's time that our laws change in order to protect information that is collected elsewhere.
According to Ronald F. White, a professor at University Saint Joseph’s who wrote on utilitarianism, the principle of utility “states that actions or behaviors are right in so far as they promote happiness or pleasure, wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain.” It's very important that companies such as Fitbit and Garmin, take better care of their users in order to do the greater amount of good for the people who use their products. Protecting information needs to be at the top of the list of concerns for these companies. Having data protected is becoming more of an issue people care strongly about and it may have an effect on the company’s sale overtime. In the FBI vs. Apple case, Apple refused to comply with the FBI’s request to unlock the San Bernardino’s shooter’s phone in 2015. Companies should follow Apple’s lead in how serious they are about protecting their users.
Since Fitbit functions within a capitalist society, it is important for them to bring in as much revenue as possible. One way companies do this is to allow ads which are tailored to the user. The way these ads are tailored to the user is by the company sharing data in order for the advertisers to show the user something they will actually be interested in. As stated earlier, Fitbit claims to be using data in order to create a more personalized experience for the users. If Fitbit truly feels the need to do this, it's important they take bigger steps in at least educating their users that they are doing this.
As a Fitbit user for more than 3 years, having my data protected is very important to me. On one hand, having my information shared may be good in order for my user experience to be more tailored to me. However, the way the data is shared and who it's shared with is a huge concern. Having things such as my menstrual cycle or my sleep cycle is kind of personal and that’s not something I want shared with the world and it's important that the company does more in order to protect my data.
Another solution that could help Fitbit would be to update their packaging and what they include within it. For example, the Fitbit wristband, charger, and user’s guide are all housed in a small box. Many people, including myself, get excited about the product and set it up very quickly and forget about the user’s guide with all the important information, such as their privacy policy. Some may not even keep the user’s guide and throw it in the trash instead with the rest of the packaging. Fitbit should change the size of the user guide so that people don’t accidentally throw it away. Also, when users set up the device on their phone or computer, they should be prompted to read the privacy policy and only once that it has been read, the user should be allowed to continue setting up their device.
Responsibility lies with both the company and the user. It is vital that companies take better care of their users in order to protect their information. However, it's important that people who buy these products educate themselves on what exactly it is they are signing up for by purchasing this product. Wearable technology is a really cool technological advance in our society and it's important to be aware of what exactly comes with wearing miniature computers on our wrists.