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Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Fitbit For 'Highly Inaccurate' Heart Rate Trackers (nbcnews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: A class action lawsuit against Fitbit may have grown teeth following the release of a new study that claims the company's popular heart rate trackers are "highly inaccurate." Researchers at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona tested the heart rates of 43 healthy adults with Fitbit's PurePulse heart rate monitors, using the company's Surge watches and Charge HR bands on each wrist. Subjects were then hooked up to a BioHarness device that produced an electrocardiogram (ECG), to record the heart's rhythm against the data being produced by Fitbit's devices. Comparative results from rest and exercise -- including jump rope, treadmills, outdoor jogging and stair climbing -- showed that the Fitbit devices miscalculated heart rates by up to 20 beats per minute on average during more intensive workouts. The study was commissioned by the Lieff Cabraser, the law firm behind the class action suit that is taking aim at three Fitbit models that use the PurePulse heart monitor, including the Fitbit Blaze, Fitbit Charge HR and Fitbit Surge. "What the plaintiffs' attorneys call a 'study' is biased, baseless, and nothing more than an attempt to extract a payout from Fitbit. It lacks scientific rigor and is the product of flawed methodology," Fitbit said in a statement posted by Gizmodo.
The fallout from this will be regardless of whether or not the disclaimer was there, but rather NO MEDICAL ANALYSIS can be performed on a non-certified device!! This is just paving the way for future legislation to solidify that notion. What will be interesting - and bring a big fucking bag of popcorn - is how both Google and Apple will team up against Federal regulatory action. You want to talk about political nuclear war, baby, this would be it; right up there with encryption!
Life is not for the lazy.
Overpriced fad gadgets turn out to be crap - film at 11.
They may indeed be crap, but the crappy article provides no actual information about that. First, it says it is inaccurate by an average of "up to" 20 beats per minute. "Up to" means "less than", so that statement would be true even if the deviation was zero. So why don't they just say what the average deviation is, instead of using meaningless weasel words? Then later in the article, they talk about an error of "20 or 30" beats per minute. So which is it? Less than 20, or 20 to 30? TFA was written by someone willing to twist both words and numbers to push an agenda.
I was wondering why Garmin (FitBit competitor) was proeminently displaying the disclaimer below on their Web site.
Now I know why..
Activity Tracking Accuracy
Garmin activity trackers are intended to be tools to provide you with information to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. Garmin activity trackers rely on sensors that track your movement and other metrics. The data and information provided by these devices is intended to be a close estimation of your activity and metrics tracked, but may not be completely accurate, including step, sleep, distance, heart rate and calorie data. Garmin activity trackers are not medical devices, and the data provided by them is not intended to be utilized for medical purposes and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Garmin recommends you consult your doctor before engaging in any exercise routine.
Accuracy of Wrist-based Heart Rate (Elevate)
The optical wrist heart rate (HR) monitor for Garmin wearables is a valuable tool that can provide an accurate estimation of the user’s heart rate at any given point in time. The optical HR monitor is designed to attempt to monitor a user’s heart rate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The frequency at which heart rate is measured varies, and depends on the level of activity of the user. When you start an activity with your Garmin optical HR device, the optical HR monitor provides feedback more frequently as the optical sensor is on all of the time and is trying to measure heart rate on a continuous basis during a given activity period. The intent is to provide the user with a more frequent and accurate heart rate reading during a given activity.
While our wrist HR monitor technology is state of the art, there are inherent limitations with the technology that may cause some of the heart rate readings to be inaccurate under certain circumstances. These circumstances include the user’s physical characteristics, the fit of the device and the type and intensity of the activity as outlined above. The HR monitor data is not intended to be used for medical purposes, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.
"miscalculated heart rates by up to 20 beats per minute"
"Up to" -- like "as much as" -- is a marketing phrase, not a description of results. I haven't read the study -- I didn't see any useful information in the linked NBC News article as to how to find it.