Alta HR for kids

[James_AltaHR]

My daughter (12) just got a new Alta HR (we considered the Ace but didn't want a dumbed down, kiddified product). Unfortunately in trying to register it the iPhone app asks her age and if she replies honestly she is told she has to ask me to setup a family account. Even having gone through this rigmarole the only device we're then allowed to setup is the child-focussed Ace.

Is there any other solution apart from lying about her age (a terrible precedent to set!)?

[AFrench613]

 With 1 out of 5 school age children being obese I think maybe concentrating on what and how much our children are putting in their mouths and tracking their calories sounds like a good and responsible thing to me. Fitbit needs to open its eyes to the epidemic of childhood obesity and allow other devices to be used on family accounts. 

[Mitoids]

I don't see why the adult devices cannot be associated with a child account and still comply with the Federal law.  Most kids are just as tech savvy (if not more) than most adults, and they are usually not satisfied kiddie versions of tech gadgets.  My 10-year old was dead set on getting the Alta HR for Christmas, and was not even aware that the Ace devices exist--nor was I until we went to register his new device.

[Mitoids]

Actually, turns out that my 10-year old was aware of the Ace 2 but was definitely not interested.

[Mac-1971]

This is ridiculous, had an old Alta that wanted to pass down to our 10 year old son. But never mind, have registered him as 20 years old, he’s well chuffed at suddenly being so grown up 😂

[LZeeW]

Hello @Mac-1971 and welcome to the Help forum.  I understand why you believe this is ridiculous, but if you understand a little about how Fitbit handles data, it might make some sense.  Fitbit "adult" accounts have a web dashboard.  The children's internet privacy protection laws keep children's information off the web.  A 10 year old can't have an adult account for the same reason that they can't have a Facebook account.

A solution would be to remove the web pages entirely and move the entire system to a phone app.  I'm not sure Fitbit is ready to go there.  There are many posts that begin with, "Not everyone owns a smartphone ...."

Like I said, I understand your frustration.  Community Council members aren't employees.  But I usually end a reply like this by saying that lying about a user's age is a violation of the Fitbit Terms of Service. 

[geojerm]

We have nothing but problems with Ace products, the first one didn't work straight out the box, the second synced (on full moons or same other strange logic we could never figure out) then it finally stopped syncing it updating just as warranty ended.  The band is not durable either...we were gifted an Alta. I wont buy or recommend an Ace. Also, as she has grown significantly in the past year...it fits DD much better. Being a tween, Ace is a little too young looking, and kids her age dont want them either unless we purchase a more grown up looking band. 

Parents decide what products kids can use...not some corporation. Perhaps Fitbit should analyze how many false acts are associated with such a trend