In earlier discussions that I posted, I focused on the positive side of fitness apps and why they should be worth investing time in. However, I would now like to highlight some concerns that may be worth keeping an eye on regarding these apps. In a similar fashion to other apps found on our devices, fitness apps are no stranger to the practice of gathering user data for various reasons. They have been found to commonly collect data such as user location, race, gender, age, and even sexual orientation and go on to share this with outside third-party companies. While some of these demographics make sense for companies to know about other demographics like race and sexual orientation, it feels unnecessary for fitness apps to learn. A study conducted by Incogni researched nine fitness apps to understand what data they are collecting and where it ends up. According to the article “The trade-off between using fitness apps and data privacy concerns” by Cyberguy, “They found that all these apps collect an average of 15.2 data points each, with Fitbit being the most data-hungry app with 21 data points collected. JustFit collects the least, 5 data points. Fitbit, along with three other apps—MyFitnessPal, Strava, and Peloton—also collects approximate location data, meaning it knows where you train and which locales you often visit.” It doesn’t stop at your location, as multiple apps have been found collecting email addresses and names belonging to users. Although Incogni learned that fitness apps don’t share this information as much as other noteworthy apps like Facebook and X, there are still some that have shared a large amount of information with other parties. There is a huge market of parties, such as data brokers, who are looking to uncover health information for their own self-profit. The possibility of this data being discovered by these outside parties could lead to unwanted potential frauds like spam emails, robocalls, and junk mail. There are thousands of apps to choose from, and although many of them follow this practice of data gathering, it is often up to the user to decide how much information they should know.
Knutsson, K. (2024, October 3). The trade-off between using fitness apps and data privacy concerns. Cyberguy. https://cyberguy.com/privacy/trade-off-between-using-fitness-apps-and-data-privacy-concerns/
Godman, H. (2021, September 1). Mobile health and fitness apps pose privacy risks. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/mobile-health-and-fitness-apps-pose-privacy-risks
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