06-15-2018 06:37
06-15-2018 06:37
I am trying to setup my Child account. I’m happy that this feature is now available. However my children have Alta fitbits not Ace Fitbit. Can you please add Alta into this feature as well, or is there a workaround?
06-15-2018 11:21
06-15-2018 11:21
The Alta is not designed to meet the requirements of the COPPA requlations. That is why a child needs to be over 13 to use the Alta. I assume that your children are over 13 and that they already have there own Fitbit accounts.
06-15-2018 11:25
06-15-2018 11:25
07-29-2018 07:50
07-29-2018 07:50
I have the same problem. I purchased an Alta hr for my child and can’t setup an account for him. He is 10yrs old ...so does this mean the device can’t be used??
07-29-2018 08:21
07-29-2018 08:21
That is correct @Bagsy1981 the Ace is designed to conform to the federal COPPA regulations
The Alta HR like the Alta is not available to those under 13. If you where told otherwise when purchasing, you may want to try and return it .
10-05-2018 08:09
10-05-2018 08:09
@AiyanaC @Bagsy1981 Welcome to our Fitbit Community! My friend @Rich_Laue is totally correct. The Fitbit tracker that can be used by children is the Fitbit Ace. Please check out this page for more information about this tracker.
Let @Rich_Laue and me know if you guys have more questions!
12-25-2018 08:09
12-25-2018 08:09
Yea just bought 3 Altas because we couldn’t find the ace and everything I read seemed like they were the same thing except for a half inch smaller band and my kids could all wear the larger band. Anyways, I’m going to use it without the app for my kids. Wanted to use this with my kids and my charge 2... was excited for my new charge 3 that hasn’t been opened yet, but it’s going back. This is ridiculous and Fitbit got my $300 but lost a customer for life. Their UI is horrible. Setting up a kid account is horrendous. It kept erroring and then I ended up with like 8 accounts because they weren’t actually erroring just throwing error codes. I can delete them in a week, but can’t use them anyways because they are Altas. Any device should be able to be used for kids. Even with a 13 yr old. Obviously I needed to research more because here I am completely regretting my purchases with this company! Oh well, Merry Christmas!
12-25-2018 09:27
12-25-2018 09:27
It's beyond ridiculous. Bought these altas as Christmas gifts and my kids are eagerly waiting on me to set their accounts up. And I'm looking up forums to somehow salvage the situation. Merry Christmas fitbit!
12-25-2018 13:01
12-25-2018 13:01
Here. Let me fix this for you. Make your kid 13.. bang works. Now invite them to your account as associate. Done.
Its a legal thing but as my kids legal guardian I accept the contract and say they are 13. Done.
12-25-2018 13:21
12-25-2018 13:21
Though I did have the same issue and think there instructions are vague at best. I just thought, ok they need to be 13 to work with the Alta HR’s we got them? Poof, the kids are all now 13. There I fixed it...
is is kind of dumb they can’t make it work. How much programming can it really take?
12-25-2018 15:03
12-25-2018 15:03
It might be that Fitbit can not make it work and still be compliant with COPPA regulations.
12-25-2018 15:10
12-25-2018 15:10
To be clear, my complaint is far different than the regulation. I merely do not want my kids to have full access on the app. Plain and simple. That’s a dad thing not a regulation thing. I want to be able to restrict my kids and not give them a full user access into the Fitbit community while still being able to share as a family. This seems like an extremely simple request as an end user of this product, irregardless of regulations and independent of the hardware version.
12-25-2018 15:36
12-25-2018 15:36
It sounds like your asking for an Ace?
12-25-2018 16:44
12-25-2018 16:44
Yes, I wish I’d have known that in order to use that simple software restriction, I needed the smaller hardware Ace. It doesn’t matter. I’ll try to return them or take a loss selling it on the gray market and get an Ace or just use the op to switch to Garmin.
12-25-2018 17:00
12-25-2018 17:00
Garmin slap has a tracker and account designed for children. Please remember that their adult trackers will also not attach to the children's account.
09-25-2019 00:32
09-25-2019 00:32
These are words that have been written.
But they make no sense.
The device counts steps, measures heart rate and send that data to Fitbit.
Surely the child protection aspect is entirely within the app and on Fitbit servers?
09-25-2019 09:10
09-25-2019 09:10
Since i am not aware of all the regulations and precautions that Fitbit has to adhere to. I am unable to respond.
I do know the Alta collects more data then the Ace does.
09-27-2019 09:27
09-27-2019 09:27
09-27-2019 10:27
09-27-2019 10:27
09-28-2019 01:31
09-28-2019 01:31
The issue is a legal problem. The problem with children using an online service is data and identity. A child's (<13yr) data receives, within the US, extra protection under the law. If the data cannot be linked to any identity there's no way to know if it is a child's data. If it is a child's data it must be handled in a separate manner which can be very restrictive. It only matters once it gets to a database not physically controlled by the child/parent. If that last were false then Nintendo would be in serious trouble.
Fitbit hardware is a way to record and transmit data to the mobile app. Ace & Alta record motion data. Heartbeat data is no different from motion data in relation to child privacy issues - it's just personal data. The mobile app sends data to fitbit servers. The only way data reaches fitbit servers is via the mobile apps.
At some point between sensors and fitbit servers, the data from an Ace is treated differently than the same data from an Alta. Unless Fitbit engineers are incompetent then all data is linked to the device that recorded it and to the user identity associated with that device at that time. Whatever happens differently for children using an Ace can be applied to the equivalent data from an Alta. The change is from "If Ace then it's a child's data" to "If Ace or identity age <13yrs then it's a child's data".
I have a degree in computer engineering. I can design a microchip. I have shipped games on xbox, pc, facebook, android google, android amazon, ios, osx, windows phone, windows store, and likely more I've forgotten. I cannot imagine what Fitbit could tell me that would make me understand why a child using an Alta is more difficult to legally manage than a child using an Ace.
Watch what you say here. Fitbit has deleted almost all of my replies on this topic. I suspect I know why, but if I say why I expect this will also be deleted. It's literally a Catch-22 ... well maybe "literaturely" a Catch-22. (My worst pun every I think.)