Amazon Echo Club

Originally Posted by Catlady

Sure, all these bits of information are out there, but they're scattered. Now they could be integrated with all the data about my spending habits, reading habits, etc., etc. If the info weren't valuable, iRobot wouldn't be so excited about selling it and the investors wouldn't be chortling about it.

The fact that our shopping habits, browsing habits, reading habits, et cetera get sold to 3rd party spammers gets my blood boiling. I don't honestly know if Amazon sells this information to others, but I do know some of the companies whose goods are sold on Amazon (and via other retail sources) do sell your information when you register their products or use their cloud service. I recently bought an Omron Blood Pressure monitor via Amazon. Within a couple of days of receiving it and registering it and setting up the Omron cloud account to share MY data with MYSELF via various of MY devices, I began getting at least a dozen or more spam emails per day for diet supplements and other "snake oil" garbage. It didn't take me long to put the Omron connection into the equation. I contacted them and had some very harsh words with them and then the spam suddenly began to fade away. Two weeks later I rarely get any of those spam emails.

I rather doubt the culprit in my case was Amazon, but rather Omron. But my point is that too many companies now sell your data to other companies. Some have checkboxes you can uncheck on your account page to help curb the issue, others give you no option to prevent it. Congress recently approved allowing our internet providers to sell our web surfing data. Some say, "Well just don't surf places you don't want people to know you were visiting." But that is naive and ignorant. For me it is more about not getting spam every time you look at grocery items, clothes, or anything else online. I'm pretty sure that if someone followed you around writing down every item you looked at in every store you went into, that would be considered stalking. Yet in the USA it is perfectly legal for companies to sell our shopping and browsing data to pretty much anyone with or without our permission.

Its as if we are nothing but peasants in a kingdom run by oligarchs.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by jswinden

The fact that our shopping habits, browsing habits, reading habits, et cetera get sold to 3rd party spammers gets my blood boiling. I don't honestly know if Amazon sells this information to others, but I do know some of the companies whose goods are sold on Amazon (and via other retail sources) do sell your information when you register their products or use their cloud service. I recently bought an Omron Blood Pressure monitor via Amazon. Within a couple of days of receiving it and registering it and setting up the Omron cloud account to share MY data with MYSELF via various of MY devices, I began getting at least a dozen or more spam emails per day for diet supplements and other "snake oil" garbage. It didn't take me long to put the Omron connection into the equation. I contacted them and had some very harsh words with them and then the spam suddenly began to fade away. Two weeks later I rarely get any of those spam emails.

I rather doubt the culprit in my case was Amazon, but rather Omron. But my point is that too many companies now sell your data to other companies. Some have checkboxes you can uncheck on your account page to help curb the issue, others give you no option to prevent it. Congress recently approved allowing our internet providers to sell our web surfing data. Some say, "Well just don't surf places you don't want people to know you were visiting." But that is naive and ignorant. For me it is more about not getting spam every time you look at grocery items, clothes, or anything else online. I'm pretty sure that if someone followed you around writing down every item you looked at in every store you went into, that would be considered stalking. Yet in the USA it is perfectly legal for companies to sell our shopping and browsing data to pretty much anyone with or without our permission.

Its as if we are nothing but peasants in a kingdom run by oligarchs.

I've been wanting a Fitbit or Fitbit-type device, but the idea of having my personal info tracked and stored and shared stops me from buying one. I keep looking for something reliable that doesn't involve the cloud and social media--I just want to be able to keep my data for myself alone. I don't know why everything these days is about sharing and comparing and providing endless data about oneself to marketers.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've been wanting a Fitbit or Fitbit-type device, but the idea of having my personal info tracked and stored and shared stops me from buying one. I keep looking for something reliable that doesn't involve the cloud and social media--I just want to be able to keep my data for myself alone. I don't know why everything these days is about sharing and comparing and providing endless data about oneself to marketers.

I have a Fitbit; you don't have to share your info with others. I'm not saying Fitbit doesn't sell it in the aggregate, but no one can access your account through social media unless you let them and even then, you can control what they see.

I find the stored data quite useful; for me, its utility outweighs any perceived loss of privacy or control, but obviously that's up to the individual.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I have a Fitbit; you don't have to share your info with others. I'm not saying Fitbit doesn't sell it in the aggregate, but no one can access your account through social media unless you let them and even then, you can control what they see.

I find the stored data quite useful; for me, its utility outweighs any perceived loss of privacy or control, but obviously that's up to the individual.

But I don't want to store info in the cloud; I want to store it in the device for some number of days/weeks with the option to then download to my computer. I basically want a relatively simple pedometer in bracelet form. I don't want to pay for all the features I dislike and won't want to use.

I am not at all a cloud person. I don't have anything stored in the cloud except what Amazon automatically puts there.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

But I don't want to store info in the cloud; I want to store it in the device for some number of days/weeks with the option to then download to my computer. I basically want a relatively simple pedometer in bracelet form. I don't want to pay for all the features I dislike and won't want to use.

I am not at all a cloud person. I don't have anything stored in the cloud except what Amazon automatically puts there.

If all you want is a pedometer, then I'd recommend the Fitbit zip, which you can usually find on sale for $39.99. I think that's better than the bracelets, which are fugly (and more expensive). And since it just monitors steps, your exposure isn't that great even if the data reside in the cloud. Who's gonna care if you funked your steps on any given day?

[WT Sharpe]

I have the Fitbit Charge 2 which I absolutely love. There are other brands out there just as good, in my opinion, but where Fitbit excels is in its ready integration into other apps such as MyFitnessPal.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have the Fitbit Charge 2 which I absolutely love. There are other brands out there just as good, in my opinion, but where Fitbit excels is in its ready integration into other apps such as MyFitnessPal.

I like the Zip, myself, as it's small and discreet and I just stick it in a pocket (or my bra if I don't have pockets). I don't like doodads and gewgaws and I never wear jewelry, ever, not even a watch. But that's me.

I'm happy enough with the Fitbit app and website. I manually log exercise, can't bear to track food or calories, and I have the Fitbit scale which does sync my weight everyday. Those chips I ate last night did indeed show up this morning, alas.

I've got a Garmin Vivosmart HR. I like it, but if I had it to do over again I would have chosen a Fitbit. The Garmin does seem to require a cloud to keep the data so it can be pushed to your phone, tablet and computer. I would prefer a simple transfer directly to the device from the Vivosmart HR. Garmin's software for the phone/tablet app and computer web interface are not very good. There is a learning curve. The problem with most of these fitness watches though is they are designed for younger people who want to exercise. I really just want something to monitor my health as I get older and have more issues. I don't care for all the clutter of the fitness features, I just want to monitor heart rate and sleep. To be honest, I rarely even wear the thing any more as I think it really doesn't tell me that much about my health. My daily blood pressure monitoring gives me BP (the most important thing I need to monitor) and heart rate. The BP monitor is data from just a few times a day, but it seems to be adequate for my needs. Now if they could come up with a watch that accurately measures BP, that would be great. However, I doubt they will. Wrist BP monitors are notoriously inaccurate due to the blood vessel sizes in the wrist.

As far as I know, Garmin isn't selling my data, at least not with my email address attached. I never received spam after registering it like I did with the Omron BP monitor. But I wouldn't be surprised if Garmin, Fitbit, and others do sell our data in an anonymous way. That is, the data without any personal info like names or email addresses attached. But they probably do sell bulk data from their cloud.

[Catlady]

I like the idea of a bracelet because I could leave it on and not worry about it. I have an app on my phone that works fine for counting steps outdoors, but a bracelet seems best for indoors.

I looked at the Fitbit Zip, and it seems to have a band option I could buy extra, so that might work. Maybe next time it's on sale I'll consider it.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I like the idea of a bracelet because I could leave it on and not worry about it. I have an app on my phone that works fine for counting steps outdoors, but a bracelet seems best for indoors.

I looked at the Fitbit Zip, and it seems to have a band option I could buy extra, so that might work. Maybe next time it's on sale I'll consider it.

I can only speak for the Garmin Vivosmart HR, I've never had a Fitbit, but be aware that a lot, if not most, of these fitness watches are really thick. My Vivosmart HR sticks up 1/2" above my wrist. That might not be a problem to you, but I was used to thinner watches so it took some getting used to.

Also be aware that recording steps is not always accurate, at least with my Vivosmart HR. Since it is waterproof, I wore it in the shower. It would record a few hundred steps during the shower, which was very innacurate. After research I discovered that it gauges the movement of your arm and predicts when you take a step. A lot of people move their arms back and forth as they walk. But in many cases it was not predicting correctly.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I can only speak for the Garmin Vivosmart HR, I've never had a Fitbit, but be aware that a lot, if not most, of these fitness watches are really thick. My Vivosmart HR sticks up 1/2" above my wrist. That might not be a problem to you, but I was used to thinner watches so it took some getting used to.

Also be aware that recording steps is not always accurate, at least with my Vivosmart HR. Since it is waterproof, I wore it in the shower. It would record a few hundred steps during the shower, which was very innacurate. After research I discovered that it gauges the movement of your arm and predicts when you take a step. A lot of people move their arms back and forth as they walk. But in many cases it was not predicting correctly.

Inaccuracy seems to be the trouble with a lot of the more inexpensive brands and the ones not connected to an app or the cloud, at least according to the reviews. Eventually I'll probably either give up on the idea entirely or get a Fitbit and surrender more of my privacy to the marketers.

[mlewis78]

I only use the health app that came with my iphone (its logo is a red heart) to see how many steps/miles I walk and the number of flights of stairs. I have 4 flights of stairs up to my apartment, plus about 5 steps to get from my vestibule up to the 1st floor (NYC walk-up).

It usually only shows about 3 flights of stairs when I've done one flight up from the subway plus 4 flights and the 5 extra steps in my building.

It starts over again at midnight. My commute home starts at 11:30pm -- walking from work to the train and I get to my neighborhood station after midnight, so my walk home from the train goes on the next days' steps and miles.

Anyone else use this? How accurate is it, in your experience?

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I only use the health app that came with my iphone (its logo is a red heart) to see how many steps/miles I walk and the number of flights of stairs. I have 4 flights of stairs up to my apartment, plus about 5 steps to get from my vestibule up to the 1st floor (NYC walk-up).

It usually only shows about 3 flights of stairs when I've done one flight up from the subway plus 4 flights and the 5 extra steps in my building.

It starts over again at midnight. My commute home starts at 11:30pm -- walking from work to the train and I get to my neighborhood station after midnight, so my walk home from the train goes on the next days' steps and miles.

Anyone else use this? How accurate is it, in your experience?

Is this an Echo related app? If you want comments, you might want to create a new thread about iPhone apps....

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Is this an Echo related app? If you want comments, you might want to create a new thread about iPhone apps....

Thanks. Are fitbit and garmin connected with Echo? I mentioned the iphone health app after I read the fitbit and garmin comments. I wasn't bringing it up out of the blue.

[copyrite]

I know there's a Fitbit skill, not sure about the Garmin.