The Biggest Security Risks of Using Fitness Trackers and Apps to Monitor Your Health

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Fitness trackers and apps from Google’s Fitbit to Apple Watch and Strava help stay on top of health and wellness, but secure personal data before sporting them.

. But even so, security professionals say it's better to buy from a reputable manufacturer that knows how to design secure devices and has a reputation to upkeep.Fitness app data is not protected like health information

What's more, the information that fitness trackers collect isn't considered"health information" under the federal HIPAA standard or state laws like California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. This means that personally revealing data can potentially be used in ways a consumer might never expect.

Depending on the state, consumers can also opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information to third parties, and in some cases, these rights are being expanded, according to Roane. "Users expect their data to be their data and use it how they want it to be used," Roane said, but that's not necessarily the case.

 

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