The Norwegian Consumer Council has analyzed the terms and conditions and privacy policies of Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, and Mio. The results show that we surrender basic consumer- and privacy rights when using these activity- and fitness wristbands.
– The wristbands are useful tools for monitoring and motivating fitness activities. Simultaneously we are giving up personal information about our health, activities, and location under asymmetrical and obscure terms, says Finn Myrstad, director of digital services in the Consumer Council.
We fear that this information can be exploited for direct marketing and price-discrimination purposes, and that basic privacy principles are being neglected.
The Norwegian Consumer Council are now submitting a formal complaint against the four companies to the Data Protection Authority and the Consumer Ombudsman, for breaching European and Norwegian data protection, consumer- and marketing laws.
In the Consumer Council’s analysis of terms, it is revealed that:
- None of the companies will give users proper notice about changes in their terms.
- All of the wristbands collect more data than what is necessary to provide the service.
- None of the companies fully explain who they may share user data with.
- None of the companies state how long they will retain user data
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