In the next three years, Fitbit users will be forced to migrate their accounts to Google.
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From 2025, a Google account will be mandatory for Fitbit devices.
© Fitbit
In January 2021, the takeover of Fitbit by Google, which had already been announced in November 2019, was completed. After renaming the company “Fitbit by Google”, the US group now wants to link its services more closely with Fitbit. That brings some changes for Fitbit customers.
Google account mandatory from 2025
As Google explains on its updated support page, a Google account will be required for “some features” of Fitbit devices starting in 2023. By 2025, all existing Fitbit accounts will then be switched to Google accounts. Anyone who buys a new Fitbit device from 2023 and wants to activate it must link or create a Google account. If you already have a Fitbit account, you can keep it until 2025. From 2025, the account must then be transferred to a Google account, as support for these accounts will be discontinued. According to its own information, Google wants to “make the schedule transparent” through notifications by email or in the Fitbit app.
Google wants to keep user data away from Google Ads
Two years ago, as a condition of its acquisition of Fitbit, Google made a commitment to the European Commission to keep Fitbit users’ data separate from Google’s systems. For at least ten years, Google may not use this data for advertising purposes. Google intends to continue to comply with this policy after the changeover in 2025.
“Google accounts on Fitbit will remain in full compliance with our commitments to global regulators. If a user signs up for a Google Account or switches to a Google Account, we will continue to separate Fitbit users’ health and wellness data from Google Ads data, and that data will not be used for Google Ads.”
a spokesman told IT magazine The Verge.
