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I lost my Fitbit at the airport in Toronto. I know there is no way I am ever getting it back. I would like the ability to brick a lost device so no one is incentivized to keep a lost or stolen Fitbit.
I was recently robbed and my Fitbit was taken. It would be a great feature for the Support team to be able to disable an undividual tracker so that no-one could benefit from anothers misfortune. If it were to be implemented it could even lead to a reduction in theft if it were advertised as a feature.
I lost my Fit bit in an airport in another country to which I will not be returning for a while. I would like to see a lockout feature in Fit bit so that my lost fit bit can not be registered to another account. From the responses provided by Customer Support, nothing prevents someone from registering a lost or stolen Fit bit to an unauthorized account. This is mind boggling - one can not register for the same Google email address but one can register a lost/stolen Fit bit to a different account. Fit bit should correct this flaw in their registration system to discourage theft.
My FitBit Alta was stolen on a recent JetBlue flight. Despite putting in a "lost" report with them 2 weeks ago, it hasn't been returned. I called FitBit's Customer Service to find out if the device could be disabled or tracked, but neither option is available. I would like to suggest that FitBits should be able to be tracked and disabled by the current owner so the "new" user doesn't benefit from their stolen product.
I guess tracking would be hard, except for the devices that have gps. But making it impossible to sync devices that have been marked as stolen or lost, and make it possible to display a message (possible from the rightfull owner) in the display (on sync) or in the app, when a locked device is connected, would be great ("for a 10$ reward call me at 555-453")
@sunshinerose wrote "My FitBit Alta was stolen on a recent JetBlue flight. Despite putting in a "lost" report with them 2 weeks ago, it hasn't been returned. I called FitBit's Customer Service to find out if the device could be disabled or tracked, but neither option is available. I would like to suggest that FitBits should be able to be tracked and disabled by the current owner so the "new" user doesn't benefit from their stolen product."
I am sorry to hear that your Fitbit was stolen. After years of complaining to Fitbit I realized they are not listening and have no intention of changing. My Apple Watch has all the tracking and lock features that I need. It has never accidentally fallen off, either.
Below is a post I made in 2017:
"This thread goes back to 2014 & I am posting 02/2017. I'm not getting the feeling that Fitbit is planning to incorporate what many of us in this thread feel are possible and important features. It's disturbing that Fitbit is aware of users activating found devices that the rightful owner has reported as lost and refuses to provide any safeguard or method for attempting to re-unite the owner with the device. Seems fundamentatlly wrong to me. Some have even reported in other threads that Fitbit customer service encouraged them to keep a device they found.
I would love to see a grass roots up-swell of complaints. Maybe it is possible to get Fitbit's attention. I agree with many of the suggestions in this thread about deactivating, "bricking", and tracking. Frankly I feel that Fitbit is actually helping to encourage theft. Current lack of support feels dishonest to me. They actually know who has the Fitbit we lost and refuse to notify them that the owner is looking for it.
Here are my suggestions to Fitbit.
1. Do not allow a Fitbit that has been reported as lost to be paired to a new account
2. Notify a user who is trying to pair a known lost Fitbit that it has been lost and offer to provide a prepaid envelope to return it to Fitbit.
3. Even go so far as to allow users who have lost a Fitbit to post a reward for it's return, all done annonymously
4. Program the Fitbit app and devices to work like the other bluetooh trackers on the market (such as the Tile device mentioned above). Users could opt in to help other users if they lose their Fitbit. Imagine at the airport a notification pops up "A Lost Fitbit has been spotted near you" It would be a fun game to play - Find the Fitbit! If there were rewards it would motivate players and unite a community of Fitbit users. Instead we have a dark and almost criminal community that encourages people to essentially steal a Fitbit."
I'm happy others agree with the need for tracking/shutting down stolen/lost Fitbits, and am astounded this has been an issue since 2014 (thanks for the heads up tedhowell aka Base Runner) and that nothing has changed. I've seen other threads where people suggested it would be a good idea to able to find their Fitbit when it's lost in their home, but that doesn't compare to being able to disable a stolen Fitbit.
The fit bit is not a cheap item. Surely with the technology an alert could be put on the serial number of my Fitbit. So if someone tries to register it as their own it would be blocked.Also the same way we are alerted that the battery is low, we should be alerted that we are no longer connected to our Fitbit.
Ive now had 2 stolen in the last year and deactivated from my account within a day.
The only logical explanation I can think of for not providing a simple protection service is that you hope that customer will go out and buy another one.
Today (4 December 2018) My fitbit was stole by someone. Today, I did not sync in fitbit app but I saw someone try to sync in my accout at ~2 pm. I would like you don't activate another account replace me. I want to know another email. And I will report to polic station.
I agree. The device should be bricked if reported stolen. I can't imagine that this is technically hard on Fitbit side. It makes good business sense too. After losing the device twice, I am now more likely to start looking at competitors trackers.
I just lost mine too. Feel unfair that not only Fitbit cannot provide new user information for whoever is using the device now, but also cannot at least de-activate the device and make it unable to register to any account.
Do you guys think we could start and sustain a hashtag on Twitter where we project Fitbit as the only company in the world that officially tolerates and supports theft? Maybe that will make them make their developers more useful and introduce a system where, before a new user registers their previously registered device, an approval mail must be obtained from the previous user. In case a new user is inheriting a device, then some proof of the process must be provided.
I have seen a number of these "brick my device!" Threads and honestly I don't think you guys have thought through the implications of such a system.
Let's play devil's advocate here. What's to stop one person who sold/gave away their Fitbit to another person from calling up customer support and having them brick the device? Let's say you bought a new one and gave your old one to your GF/BF, but then you had a nasty breakup and you want to be spiteful. What's would prevent you in this scenario from reporting the fitbit as stolen and having them brick the device despite it having been legitimately given away? The other person could claim that they received it as a gift, but how could they prove it?
Think of the liability issues that would be involved and the lack of recourse for those that came by their second hand Fitbit legitimately who suddenly have it shut off by some spiteful A*****le. As a company Fitbit I fully understand why they have taken the position they have. It's a they said/they said situation in which you asking them to always side with the original owner even if the other party may have obtained the device legitimately. Everytime somebody called in asking for a device to be bricked it would be a 50/50 chance that person was doing so maliciously.
The only real option here is to set up the devices in such a way so that they can only be reactivated if they are whipped by the last account that activated it. Then the only real put fall would be buying a second hand device that hadn't been whipped, and being stuck with the loss because "buyer beware" kicks in at that point.
One last thing, to those that are wondering why Fitbit doesn't give you any information about the people that apparently have you Fitbit, stop and take a long moment to think about what your asking. Your asking a company to disregard the industry standard practice (and honestly the best practice) of not disclosing user information to random people who call them on the phone. In what world do you think that's a good idea?
There is only one scenario in which Fitbit will release this information; when a government official (I.E. a police officer) with a valid and signed warrant or subpoena shows up in person and presents there valid government ID.
And honestly this is a good thing. Lest some creep calls up Fitbit with just enough info and convinces them to tell them all about you. Wouldn't be very nice to know the private info shared with any company is being given away to any random person who asks for it nicely.
I lost my Fitbit and there needs to be a way to disable the Fitbit so that whoever finds it can not create an account and use it. I can’t believe that you would allow someone to use a lost or stolen device. It should be easy enough as every device should have a device Id
Hi @Cxp! Great suggestion, thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similarrequest. Post a comment or click on the thumbs-up to show your support.
Hello Jack323. I am not completely following your comments. My Apple iPhone and Watch are capable of tracking the location of the device, remotely locking it, wiping it's data, putting a message on the screen saying that it is lost with a number to call if found, setting it to lost mode, and telling the service provider that it has been lost and not allowing someone who found it to easily activate it. Granted the more sophisticated thief can find workarounds but these fundamental layers of protection to my investment are clearly possible to implement. I don't believe anyone is asking to compromise privacy protection. When my wife's Fitbit was stolen, all I asked Fitbit to do was to contact the person who activated it to let them know it was a lost device and request that it be returned anonymously to Fitbit so it could be returned to us. I also suggested that they set up an anonymous ability to offer a reward. I also suggested, if you are familiar with Tile, that all users could participate in locating lost devices in the same manner that Tile works.
Clearly, the technology exists to make it more difficult to activate a lost or stolen Fitbit without compromising anyone's private information. If such safeguards were put in place the device would become less attractive to being stolen, making it more possible to find, and easier to return to the owner. These are simple suggestions that Fitbit is ignoring.
If you are happy with your Fitbit and have not experienced losing it or having it stolen then you should continue to use it. To those of us who have had it lost or stolen and realize that there are absolutely no safeguards built in to the product like there are in other devices, then the realization that our investment has no protection is shocking. When I realized that Fitbit has no intention of adding these features I had to move on and invest my money in another product that offers the safeguards I want.
Thanks Tedhowell! When I saw that 5 years ago someone requested this I could not believe that they have not programmed this very , very simple fix. I am sure they have the device id, and when someone else tries to register they just need to look for a duplicate. If you sell or given it to someone else, you should have a transfer option.
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