USA TODAY International Edition
SO YOU’VE SPLIT FROM YOUR FITNESS TRACKER. CAN YOU GET YOUR DATA BACK?
You’ve walked your 1 million steps, dutifully logged sleep patterns and graphed your heart rate — all courtesy of that trusty fitness band that gently nudged you into better health.
But now its manufacturer has closed its doors or is acquired by someone else. Or perhaps you decide to switch to a different brand altogether. What happens to all that data you’ve put so much sweat into?
Millions of customers who own a Jawbone UP activity tracker faced that question this month after learning the company was liquidating after manufacturing issues, a legal battle with rival Fitbit, and months of complaints by customers about paltry customer service.
Jawbone says that in its case, a successor company — Jawbone Health — has acquired certain assets including customer data from Jawbone parent Aliphcom during liquidation proceedings. The successor company will serve and support existing customers.
The scenario raises broader questions about this relatively young technology: Who owns the fitness health data you’ve been feeding into various trackers and apps? Can you have it deleted, upon request? And if you’re ready to move on ( or are forced to), how can you get it back?
JUST ASK
In the case of Jawbone, the new company — Jawbone Health, headed by Jawbone co- founder and chief executive Hosain Rahman — says all customers have to do is ask.
“As before, if consumers want to take their data elsewhere, they are free to do so. It is their data,” Jawbone Health spokesman Mark Veverka said in an email.
He said that “Jawbone Health continues to use and protect con- sumer data with the same high level of care. ... Jawbone will delete such personal data upon request of the customer because it is the customers’ data.”
To request to have your data returned to you and/ or destroyed, customers can send an email from this site: jawbone. com/ contact.
When it comes to transferring your data from one fitness tracker company to another, keep in mind that the information might not easily import into the new app. There are some public forums that discuss importing Jawbone data into Fitbit, for example, but the success appears to be mixed ( often requiring a third- party app as a middleman).
CHECK POLICY
Jawbone’s situation is a wake- up call for consumers to check their fitness trackers’ terms and conditions, particularly what they say about sharing data.
For instance, Jawbone says it shares aggregated usage statistics that cannot be used to identify you individually. But its privacy policy also clearly states: “We may share your personal information for the purposes of a business deal ( or negotiation of a business deal) involving sale or transfer of all or a part of our business or assets.”
“Fitness trackers like this are a goldmine for useful personal data, which can be used in a variety of different ways,” cautioned Christopher Dore, a Chicagobased partner at consumer protection law firm Edelson PC. “One issue with fitness tracking data is the heath information you’re giving away, such as heart rate, activity intensity. This becomes, in my mind, quasi- medical information they’re collecting about you.” A second concern, Dore said, is that most of these devices have the ability to track location.
“A company can learn your daily habits, see what stores you go to, where you drive,” he said.
According to Jawbone’s privacy policy, your data is broken down into various sections: information you actively provide when you sign up ( such as name, height, weight, birth date); information you automatically provide ( gleaned from mobile apps, fitness tracker devices, and their website); and information third parties collect.
A lesson to be learned here: Be wary of what you’re freely sharing with tech companies, whether it’s a social media site, wearable gadget or mobile app.