Google-Owned Fitbit Faces Multi-Country Complaints Over Alleged Breach Of GDPR Rules

Google’s Fitbit faces complaints of GDPR violations filed by privacy advocacy group Noyb.

What Happened: According to Reuters, on Thursday, the advocacy group Noyb lodged complaints against Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google-owned Fitbit in Austria, Netherlands, and Italy. The group accuses Fitbit of breaching the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy rules.

Fitbit allegedly forces its users to agree to data transfers outside the EU and does not provide an option to withdraw their consent, a violation of GDPR’s requirements, according to Noyb.

Bernardo Armentano, a data protection lawyer at Noyb, criticized Fitbit for not adequately explaining its use of sensitive health data, as required by law.

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Noyb is asking Fitbit to provide its users with complete data transfer information and let them utilize its app without agreeing to these transfers.

Fitbit’s privacy guidelines indicate that users can only revoke their consent by removing their account, which leads to deleting their stored workouts and health information, as highlighted by Noyb.

Why It Matters: This is not the first time that tech giants have faced heat for GDPR violations. On September 2, 2021, the European Union penalized WhatsApp for a whopping $266M for breaching GDPR. This shows a stringent stance by EU authorities towards upholding data privacy laws.

Moreover, the issue of data privacy has been a significant concern and the catalyst for regulatory differences between the EU and other regions. For instance, on July 4, 2023, Meta Platforms Inc.’s META new decentralized social media platform, Threads, had to forego its launch in the EU and Ireland due to data privacy concerns raised by the Irish Data Protection Commission.

The current complaint against Fitbit further highlights the growing scrutiny and the strict regulatory environment tech companies face in the EU. It also underlines the EU’s commitment to protecting consumer data, reinforcing the need for companies like Google to ensure full compliance with GDPR laws.

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