Post #3248967

2026-05-17 17:22 UTC

@mclare@recurse.social @pluralistic@mamot.fr most fitness trackers - and I’m not even taking about “free” apps but devices you pay for - also won’t give you the data; they require accounts for who knows what nefarious purposes. Needless to say, I won’t buy one. *** Account - forget about it, unless I can use a fake email, the data is not particularly private, and I do not pay anything. Phone number to create an account - go **** yourself, provincial spy from the 19th century.

Replies (3)

@raymierussell@mastodon.scot 2026-05-17 18:01

@nerdbear@masto.ai @mclare@recurse.social @pluralistic@mamot.fr Listening to The Skeptics Guide a couple weeks ago and the data supplied by trackers is not particularly reliable. They may cause more problems than they solve. https://youtu.be/eqfHLuErxjs?si=SxFH_N8LdfDSJPV4&t=868

Open ##3248968
@juliesbits@c.im 2026-05-17 18:42

@nerdbear@masto.ai @mclare@recurse.social @pluralistic@mamot.fr I bought a simple lock to install on a cabinet door. When it arrived I reviewed the instructions before installing it in the cabinet and discovered I had to activate the lock via a website that required an account set up with my email address before it would ever lock. The description on the website had not included this requirement. I got a full refund for the lock and found another lock that I could use with no stupid connection to the cloud.

Open ##3248970
@HodgesC@mas.to 2026-05-18 09:20

@nerdbear@masto.ai @mclare@recurse.social @pluralistic@mamot.fr Yes, I wasted far too long trying to extract data from an old fitbit. When I gave up I bought a cheap bluetooth heart rate sensor and use that with an Android bike computer app that doesn't want to invade your privacy. It was developed by one guy, an engineer, who built the sort of thing he wanted to use, and runs totally offline if you want. Sadly I think he might have retired from updating it; it might be a reason to keep my old phone un-updated and offline

Open ##3248978