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Google will start requiring Fitbit wearable users to migrate from Fitbit accounts to Google accounts, a switch that could become mandatory in early 2025.
Before and after the $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit in January 2021, there have been concerns about user privacy and whether Google has direct access to it. In an update to the Fitbit support page, the permission change could happen within a few years.
IT House has learned that currently, Fitbit devices use a Fitbit-specific account, which in most cases is separate from the Google system. The exception is when the user enables the option to share Fitbit data with Google’s various apps, which would otherwise be saved separately.
Google will prompt users to sign in with a Google account starting in 2023, according to changes to Fitbit’s support page discovered by The Register. New users signing up for an account or existing users upgrading and wishing to access new features must use a Google Account associated with Fitbit.
Other users who keep their Fitbit account separate from Google can avoid doing so, but with a time limit. “Support for Fitbit accounts will continue until at least early 2025,” reads the support page, after which users will need a Google account.
The change is believed to be beneficial for users, including “single sign-on for Fitbit and other Google services, industry-leading account security, centralized privacy controls for Fitbit user data, and more.”
While the move has caught the attention of industry watchers, Google has pledged to handle the migrated data with care, as it uses user data to power its various products and services.
“Google will continue to protect the privacy of Fitbit customers and has made a series of binding commitments with regulators around the world, including confirmation that Fitbit user health data will not be used for Google ads,” the page said. “These data will be kept separate from Google Ads data.”
The pledges were made to ease concerns about regulators scrutinizing the Fitbit acquisition. These commitments, which last for ten years, require technical separation of Fitbit user data, prevent data from being used for Google Ads, guarantee user choice as it involves granting access to data, and other elements.
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- 2022-09-27 To 2025, Google Fitbit users will be forced to migrate to use Google accounts
- 2021-06-17Google health department lays off 20% of employees, some employees are transferred to Fitbit department
- 2021-01-14Google completes acquisition of smart wearable device maker Fitbit
- 2020-12-22Google ‘s acquisition of Fitbit’s antitrust plan has not been approved by Australian regulators
- 2020-12-17EU approves Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit
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