How to make steps private on Dashboard?

[AlyssaMarie1992]

How do you make your steps private so none of your friends can see how many steps you take?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Megarama]

Wait, so you’ve taken away my right to privacy to be funny? Funny to whom, exactly? To you and the app developers?

[T_Flynn]

@HeydyF

"....However this doesn't mean that we are taking users' control over their privacy settings, we are just trying to gather them into a community so they share knowledge and stories and make the Fitbit experience even more funny...."

Actually,  this is exactly what this means.   The users had control of their privacy settings and you removed the option to stay private.

"....However this doesn't mean that we are taking users' control over their privacy settings, we are just trying to gather them into a community so they share knowledge and stories and make the Fitbit experience even more funny...."

The option to share with friends or public was already available.  If users wanted to participate with the community, they already had the option.  You've removed the option and forced participation.

The only thing this demonstrates is that Fitbit doesn't value the privacy of the users

[Lilbiddy]

I was given my fibbit as a gift for me. I use it to monitor myself. I don't wish to have my information broadcast to all and sundry. I only communicate on these fora as there is no other way of letting fibbit know when I am fed up with their attitude to customers. 

Why faff about annoying your customers and betraying their trust when you should be sorting out you regular problems like compatibility, synching and GPS.

[CircusFit]

I must be misunderstanding... The Privacy of my personal step information can no longer be set to "private", but must be shared at least with "friends"? So we must forfeit control of our own privacy so that FitBit can build a "community" we don't want? I didn't buy a FitBit to be social. FitBit is a biometric device, not social media.

In health care, any health information (heartbeat, steps, etc.) is protected by the Health Information Privacy Protection Act (HIPPA). It requires patient/user permission to share such information.

So apparently FitBit cannot be used in the health care environment...until control of personal information is returned.

[RobertoME]

Hello there everyone! I was reading all your concerns about the privacy of your settings. Thank you for your feedback and I understand this is a delicate matter. One of our main focus is to keep your data secure, rest assure no one without your consent is able to see your information.

Is true that your average step count is not possible to hide, however this information is not shared publicly and is only visible to your friends who you have accepted before. Beyond this, your information cannot be retrieve from our servers or be use for other purposes.

For the rest of your information, you can access to your privacy settings and choose which data will remain private to the public or even your friends. For more details please refer to this article: How do I manage my Fitbit profile?

Our Fitbit's privacy policy reiterates our pledge to never sell your data and explains what we collect and how we use it. To learn more about this, please review the following information: Is my Fitbit data secure?

See you around.

[Tape]

Why can't we control our average step count visibility to people in the so called, "friends" category?

Noone has posted a concern regarding access to data on your servers... Why play it off like that? 

Just because we add someone, so we can compete with them, doesn't mean they should get access to our data by default.  It was an option to hide this and it was removed... Even more frustrating!  Maybe it's time to help out your stock more and just ditch my Fitbit for lack of personal data control.

[SunsetRunner]

You missed the point entirely. We DO NOT WANT TO BE FORCED TO SHARE OUR
STEPS WITH ANYONE. Period. I deleted all of my friends in order to keep my
step count private.

[SunsetRunner]

You missed the point entirely, RobertoFitBit. We do not want to be FORCED to share step counts. We had the option to keep step count private, and you took that away. Sometimes I want to share step count, and other times I do not. I ended up deleting all of my friends in order to keep my step count private. Please bring back the option to keep step count, and all of our information, private. 

You are losing customers over this. You had the option, it should be an easy fix to put it back.

[SunsetRunner]

This is a HORRIBLE DECISION to keep our steps visible to our friends. Some of us just want privacy. You guys REFUSE to listen to this community. Apple Watch here I come. 

[T_Flynn]

“...Is true that your average step count is not possible to hide...”

This statement is incorrect.  It is possible for average step count to be private.   Everyone that had it private before the change remained private. 

Only the people after the change have lost the ability to keep it private. 

[CircusFit]

Oops... misunderstood & posted in error...

[T_Flynn]

The people who had selected private, have remained private.  

The only feature that was eliminated was the choice on the app screen.

The backend database still supports private, 

All that that is being asked for is to restore the option to select private in the app.  So the people on this thread may select it if they so choose. 

[CircusFit]

Oops... Misunderstood and posted in error...

[T_Flynn]

Fitbit could very easily place a few lines of code in their app to restore the private setting for average steps.  

They choose not to. 

No amount of sugar coating in the forums about how much they value our privacy is going to change the fact they removed a privacy feature.  

Make the default setting the friend zone, but give us the option to choose private if we desire to. 

[CircusFit]

T_Flynn, I apologize for sounding "snippy". Your earlier post sounded like you worked with FitBit, and were explaining that the capability wasn't removed, only the ability to turn it on. Which was true, but not from the perspective that I thought you were writing. You were pointing out that FitBit could just turn it back on. Mea culpa.

[T_Flynn]

No worries Circus, we all want the same thing. 

I don’t work for Fitbit.   I just have an informed understanding of how technology works.  

It it is very frustrating to hear the ‘marketing’ double speak about giving control to the users for their privacy controls while taking it away at the same time.  

Someone at fitbit thought it was a good idea, I’m sure they put together a business case and tied the change to other improvements in their argument.  

Our only voice is on these forums, to let them know we disagree. 

[SunsetRunner]

I had a Fitbit before they changed it, but I lost it. By the time I got a new one, they had changed the privacy, and, restarting my account, I had lost the ability to keep my steps private. So, no, not everyone who had it before still has it. 

Besides, the point isn't about losing it, the point is we want the ability to keep our data private. The default should be private unless we decide to share it.

[T_Flynn]

Agreed, we should have the option for private. 

[RobertoME]

Hello there everyone and thank you one more for your input, I feel bad that I cannot provided all of you with more information or even with a solution. This is all the information I have available at the moment. Nonetheless I have compiled all your feedback and shared forward with our teams.

I know this is an important matter to all. So, in addition, I would like to invite you all to share and support the following idea in our Feature Suggestion board: Add the "Hide Me"/hide steps from friends back. In case you haven't seen it It wold be great to have your voice in that idea. Our product development teams consult regularly to ensure we're delivering on what our customers need and want. Please take a moment to visit and give us your feedback.

See you later.