Full Data Export

[SunsetRunner]

I've just tried the Data Export facility and all I get is a summary.

How do I get the full data for each day for all the functions? The list would be pretty comprehensive and the data must exist within the fitbit online system otherwise all the graphs, charts, tables, maps etc could not be produced on the dashboard.

As the data export page says "Your data belongs to you!" so where is it please?

(BTW the TCX files for each activity isn't the answer, if there is no GPS data the file is empty)

[SunsetRunner]

Latest Update

Hi Pete,

Please excuse our delay as we improve our data export tool.

We're writing to let you know that we will need up to an additional 60 days to satisfy your request.

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Sabrina N and the Fitbit Team

This can be read in a number of ways but lets be generous and think that they are actually doing something and the techies are looking at the problem, defining the requirements and will then be developing and testing. There will be many options for them to consider about their approach, not least of which will be the legal aspects which will require sign off.

There again they could be saying, if we tell the public it will take 60 days they may well just forget about it.

Lets hope its the former.

Pete

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @SunsetRunner.

I'm sure that they will be providing you with that information that you need.

Please do keep us posted on the situation.

If you have the time bes sure to visit one of our Discussion boards, lots of topics to talk about with other users.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[SunsetRunner]

We are very near the 60 days since my last post and I've had nothing from the fitbit team yet. Hopefully we'll hear something soon.

Pete

[manavgarg]

Same here. Haven't heard a thing. Hopefully, people are working on it.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @manavgarg and @SunsetRunner.

Thanks for the update.

Maybe you could try writing an email back to them to check on the progress. I'm sure, however, that you will be getting the information that you need.

Let me know if there are any other questions I can help out with.

[SunsetRunner]

@LanuzaFitbitYes I did email them and recieved a reply yesterday

Hi Pete,

Thank you for reaching back out.

We're very sorry for the continued delays. We've reached out to our teams and will have an update no later than Wednesday, November 15th.

We appreciate your continued patience at this time.

Sincerely,

Sabrina N and the Fitbit Team

So looking positive

Pete

[SunsetRunner]

Here is the latest from the Fitbit team

Hi Pete,

Thank you for your request for your Fitbit data. We sincerely apologize for the delay.

We wanted to let you know that you can obtain this data directly from your account settings. We recently made improvements to this feature to enable you to download your data from your account creation date. Previously through your settings you could download certain data sets on a monthly basis. 

Please visit our help site for more information on the data available to you: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1133

For information about the data we collect and how it's used please visit our Privacy Policy.

Sincerely,

Sabrina N and the Fitbit Team

Unfortunately I am unable to check whether the changes are what we are expecting because I've recently changed some of my profile details and am locked out of downloads for 5 days.

Let us all know how you get on.

Pete

[manavgarg]

I did download my history yesterday.

I did contain everything as we expected i.e all the info like heart rate, sleep, steps at a fine grained granularity.

[SunsetRunner]

@manavgargThat does sound very promising. I'll wait until my access returns before I select "Accept as a Solution"

Pete

[craigvan]

Apparently these "enhancements" are behind the dreadful changes experienced this week, the loss of Excel and quick & easy xls downloads that so many of us are protesting and angry about. If you look at the other threads [ie data download changes, and more] one sees that the outrage about the format changes far outweighs the interest in the individual who suggested the change. Most like myself want the old format and Excel capabilities restored immediately and we were not on the Fitbit forums until the data download was changed this week. Perhaps Fitbit could provide both the "new" and more popular "old" variations in the premium services subscription of $50/year because having the download we need is so important.  Regardless, WE NEED THE OLD FORMAT AND EXCEL XLS CAPABILITY RESTORED ASAP!! 

[manavgarg]

I think the format now is json. I dont think it should be difficult to put it as xls. In fact there are lot of tools to do it.

They should give  the desired format as an option when creating the export like google.

But i guess this is a step forward as getting the complete data is a harder problem than the data format.

[SunsetRunner]

I am not in a position to comment as I can't access the data at the moment.

However, getting the data in excel format was what was expected otherwise it's not much use to anybody. Getting the full data set was always the expectation then everybody can do what they want with it. In its old form it was of little use as the detail wasn't there.

I'll take a look at the other posts. It sounds like a clasic case of change management. Consultation with users was offerred but not taken up

[craigvan]

Dear manavgarg and doubletop: the widespead outrage about the changes far exceeds the interest of the few individuals who suggested it. WE NEED THE OLD FORMAT and quick and easy Excel XLS download restored IMMEDIATELY. The 25+ protests are under multiple help topics.

[manavgarg]

Hi craig,

Noone here asked them to change the format. We only requested to get access to the complete data. Why they changed the format is something that needs to be answered by them.

i dont think the demand made here was unreasonable and given the GDPR rules, it was a fair request.

so please stop blaming us for the mess. No one suggested a change in format in this forum.

[Purple_Panda]

Another horrible change is that all the data is in separate files for each day. This makes it horribly time consuming to export and dump a months worth of sleep, activity and weight data into a personal excel file. How on earth did Fitbit think this new worthless (for 99.9 % of the users) functionality should replace the old one istead of being an alternative way to export data?

[SunsetRunner]

I've just sent this to the dev team but like you I'm just a user

Sabrina

I think your team needs to take a look at the posts on the forum.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Fitbit-com-Dashboard/Data-export-changes/td-p/3062632/jump-to/first-...

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Fitbit-com-Dashboard/Data-export-changes/td-p/3062632/jump-to/first-...

There are some very unhappy people out there

It looks like as a quick fix at least you need to add a link back to the original monthly export as well as one to the full export

Pete

[craigvan]

I understand. But the voice and the widespread votes of protest are here for you to see. Again, I think Fitbit should offer both variations and I would be willing to pay $50/year for it. That would serve both you and the many others like me that suddenly have lost an important capability that we and our doctors or therapists were depending upon. Thank you.

[artbypep]

Others like myself have been patiently waiting to gain access to this data so that some of US could share this important info with OUR doctors.

Some people have just not been able to, while others have to try one of the user created options, which are more technical and time consuming and therefore not accessible for everyone. 

I agree that both should be offered, but take it down a notch and recognize that this was a failure on Fitbit’s end to implement good change, but that other people’s need for this data isn’t somehow lesser than your own. 

[craigvan]

Yep, but don't stop providing data and service to those of us who depended upon it. If you want new data and a new fuller format, good for you, but it should not wipe out the needs of the larger community. 

[SunsetRunner]

@craigvan- Remember, unless the poster is tagged as a "Moderator"  we are all in the same situation as you and can do no more about this than you can. We agree with you, the situation is totally unacceptable and whoever in Fitbit signed off these changes needs to be held to account. Not other forum users.

What has been provided is nothing like the expectations of the original request, which was not unreasonable, and could have been provided in the framework of the original data format. If Fitbit had taken up the offer of involvement of the community then they could have canvassed opinion and provided a Beta release for testing and feedback.  They didn't do that they made wholesale changes without any consideration of users requirements.

Pete