Advocacy group Noyb files accusations against Google's Fitbit

Advocacy group Noyb filed complaints against Fitbit, accusing the fitness tracking company of violating the European Union's GDPR privacy regime.

The digital rights organization Noyb (None Of Your Business), headquartered in Vienna and founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, has already brought hundreds of lawsuits alleging privacy violations against major tech firms like Google and Meta, a division of Alphabet Inc.

According to Noyb, Fitbit, which is owned by Google, requires its customers to consent to data transfers outside of the EU and does not give them the option to revoke that consent. This is a violation of GDPR regulations.

Fitbit watches include the ability to track sleep, heart rate, and activity. A subscription service is additionally offered for $9.99 per month.

Noyb's data protection attorney, Bernardo Armentano, criticized the company for failing to even attempt to justify how it uses the most sensitive health data despite being required by law to do so.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has penalties for breaking its regulations that can equal up to 4% of a company's annual global sales. In 2022, Google had a $280 billion yearly income.

The advocacy group demands that Fitbit give its users access to all necessary information about the data transfers and grant them the option to use the app without giving their consent.

While the GDPR gives everyone the right to withdraw their consent, Fitbit's privacy policy states that the only way to do so is to delete an account, which means that all previously tracked workouts and health information will be lost, according to Noyb.