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Who would have thought about a decade ago that watches and wrist-bands could help us keeping fit and healthy? But then the technology in our age is advancing at a lightning speed, churning out amazing innovations in internet-enabled devices, including wearable fitness trackers.
Thanks to these devices, people can now keep a tab on how many footsteps they took during a day, how much calories they burned, and what’s required to obtain that ‘perfect’ shape. Indeed, fitness tracking devices give health-freaks a consistent log of daily activities that can be measured. Often, unavailability of this metric (except in expensive gyms) resulted in carelessness.
A report published last year on the Wall Street Journal showed that one in ten Americans now uses wearable fitness trackers compared to one in fifty adults who owns smartphones. But the story, citing the Iowa State University, also stated that these devices are sometimes off-the-mark. The study conducted by the University on eight fitness tracking devices revealed that measurements on energy expenditures were 10% to 15% inaccurate, compared to a precise laboratory testing.
But that’s not the only concern. These devices typically allow fitness trackers to accumulate, and monitor health-related information, including determining health objectives—online and on the cloud. They now do the tasks of medical devices but additionally provide a valuable database. Therefore, vulnerabilities to hacking and data thefts are high. There is a constant threat to information security, and data privacy. If breached, it could cause a havoc. Indeed, imagine a hacker intruding your database and subverting all the vital health-related information.
Having said that; fitness tracking devices provide a holistic approach to better manage your lifestyle. Security related concerns make them vulnerable; but proper identity and access control management, which could help blocking unauthorized access, can substantially cut and control risks.
