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

[Poxiemarx]

This is ridiculous! We should be able to switch them to private if we choose to do so! Fitbits are not inexpensive and biometrics are not always something a person wants to share. All you do for my sense of “community” by removing my CHOICE to make this step average private is make me want to just unfriend everyone since I don’t have control over what I show to them. Sometimes people get ill...and rest and their stepcount goes down and not eveyone should be able to see this go down ( however temporarily)if you don’t want them to...this is just very frustrating...listen to your users on here! We are your customers! Most of us want this privacy option! 

[MartinWolf]

I use my Ionic to track my progress while exercising, but I don't use it as a daily wear watch. At work, I usually wear a different (non-smart) watch. As a result, the "steps counter" is a totally meaningless number for me since it represents only a portion of the total number of steps taken during my day.

I might like to occasionally let friends know about a run or hike I just did. That's the only part of the "social" features I'm interested in; I don't need silly gamification nonsense to motivate myself to improve my running times. If I can't "friend" other Fitbit users without sharing things I don't want to share and which in my case are completely meaningless anyway, then forget about it, I just won't friend anybody.

I like the watch qua hardware, but this is seriously disappointing and worrying. In the wake of the Facebook / Cambridge Analytics scandal, consumers are (finally!) waking up to the importance of privacy. Fitbit has an awful amount of incredibly sensitive personal information about its customers; a company like that had better demonstrate in its every communication and action that it respects its users' right to control their own information. In that regard, this is a big step in the wrong direction.

[Tape]

@MartinWolf - that is just one, excellent example, of why fitbit is making the wrong decision here.

@RobertoME @HeydyF  - Can you help?  How do we get control over our data?  How do we get this thread in front of corporate decision makers?

[SunsetRunner]

I will most likely be returning my fitbit thanks to this feature. I'll just get an Apple watch instead. This is ridiculous. 

[CircusFit]

Just received the "Updated Fitbit Privacy Policy" email. They now give you "More Control"... "

•     We have enhanced the settings we give you to control your data. With these improvements, it is easier for you to edit or delete personal data you have given us, like your profile data; control how your personal stats and other information are visible to other Fitbit users; download your information, including data about your activities, body, foods, and sleep; control the notifications you receive from us; and manage the third-party apps you have authorized to access your account.

So I happily checked the uncontrollable privacy on Steps.... Nope, we still cannot make it private, so we still do not have control of our privacy...

I had hoped for a quick return to privacy controls, but I'm rapidly losing confidence in Fitbit as a choice...

[Bee_bee]

I am fairly new to fitbit and would like to make my steps private or not be included in rankings and i know other friends feel the same. It's wrong that fitbit doesn't allow us this option. I may have to just unfriend or block everyone to achieve this which isn't something i really want to do. 

[GeorgeCH]

Registered just to let you know that the utter stupidity of being unable to keep my seven-day total private has just led me to uninstall the app from my phone after several years of using it religiously, including to lose some 30kg. 

Im a hyper-competitive stepper who usually averages 170,000+ steps a week. I had to stop doing challenges with equally hyper-competitive people when I realized that it led to unhealthy behaviours such as jogging around the house for hours to clock in 60,000+ daily steps to stay ahead. 

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the implicit challenge of competing on the seven-day total - so the only way to do it without unfriending people (whom I’m close friends with IRL) is to uninstall the app. 

Good job bringing that community together, FitBit? I can’t believe I used to be one of your biggest advocates and convinced five people to buy your devices (many of them twice, meaning I’ve been responsible for 5 * 2 * 160 = $1,600 of revenue for you over the years).

I’m now happily switching to Strava for tracking my runs and will likely switch to Apple Watch or Garmin when my Fitbit dies next. 

[MyStepsAreMyBiz]

European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now specifies a fine of up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater, for failing to allow a EU citizen (regardless of where they are located at the present time) or a non-EU citizen (who is in Europe at the time) to control the data a company collects on them.

Failure to allow a user to make steps on the dashboard private probably violates GDPR. Dangerous not to make this change, Fitbit!

[espovt]

This is just a rehash. This is totally unacceptable!! We the owners should have the right to share or not share what WE decide and YOU shouldn't. Time to move out of FitBit!!!

[Poxiemarx]

I stopped wearing my Fitbit for months due to this. It’s an absolute invasion of privacy and we should be able to control what friends see and not be forced into a “community” especially if were struggling with an illness of any kind that affects how many steps we take and that has bad days and good days. Sometimes you want your friends to know about that and sometimes you don’t’! It also affects the average daily step count and I’ve even gotten messages from people asking if I’m OK when I prefer to keep things private. 

[Poxiemarx]

To continue on the topic,  because it wouldn’t allow me in my previous response;

  I’m going to have to unfriend my friends if I want to use my Fitbit to monitor things for myself because I don’t have the option of deciding what they see. Don’t tell me about the privacy settings on everything but the average daily step count. I think we’ve all been told about that enough. We should also have the option to make that private from friends as well. It’s our personal health information. I should just sell my Fitbit and find something that has more privacy. This issue has been brought up repeatedly for well over two years and we keep getting the same responses from the Fitbit moderators. It’s really unacceptable to ignore our feedback and respond with the same answer in different formulations over and over and over when people are paying ( and so much at that! ) for your product. 

[Jane88]

You are taking control of our privacy since we are now unable to our step couny private. You give me no choice but to unfriend everybody I had on fitbit since it is now the only way to keep my stuff private 

[Jane88]

I did the same!

[RubettG]

You obviously are not listening to everybody's concerns on this message board. If people want their step counts  from their friends for a day or two or week or don't want them ever seeing it again which is what I'm trying to do, which I just found out I cannot do, we have a right to that privacy. We get that you protect us from being seen past our friends. But that doesn't mean we want our friends sreing our daily step count either. We have a right to that privacy. Even if it's just for a day or week or whatever. This just shows that you're not listening to your customers concerns about this. I guess I'm buying a Samsung for my next smartwatch!

[CwinnAustin]

Trying to gather them?

What? This is the most ridiculous kind of feature to try and justify.  

[Poxiemarx]

Update- Still not using my old Charge 2 unless ( I work out and even then it isn’t very accurate anymore )and never purchasing any of your products again since you don’t listen to your customers and absolutely do not value their privacy. Using and spending my :dollar_banknote: on another brand who allows for privacy. What an absolute joke this is @Fitbit.