Exposed: Fitbit (Google)

Fitbit, acquired by Google in January 2021 for $2.1 billion, is one of the most popular wearable fitness trackers in the world with over 35 million active users generating continuous streams of biometric and health data. The acquisition gave Google access to years of accumulated heart rate data, sleep patterns, exercise activity, menstrual cycle tracking, stress measurements, blood oxygen levels, and step counts for millions of users. Despite promising EU regulators during the acquisition review that Fitbit health data would be kept separate from Google advertising data for at least ten years, privacy advocates have documented increasing integration between Fitbit accounts and Google accounts, with users now required to sign in with Google credentials. The concern is that Fitbit data, combined with Google existing knowledge of search queries, location history, email content, and browsing behavior, creates the most comprehensive individual health and behavioral profile ever assembled by a commercial entity. Google can now correlate what you search for about health symptoms with your actual biometric data, when you sleep with your location patterns, and your exercise habits with your purchasing behavior. Fitbit collects data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including during sleep, creating a continuous biometric surveillance stream that follows users through every moment of their lives. The EU approval of the acquisition was conditional on data separation promises, but enforcement of these conditions has been questioned by consumer advocates.