fitbit: Read the open letter that Fitbit CEO James Park has sent to users – the latest news

Google has completed its $ 2.1 billion acquisition of the flagship Fitbit wearables. Company CEO James Park welcomed the news and said the deal would help Fitbit “Innovate faster, provide more options, and create better products.” He also wrote an open letter to Fitbit users assuring them to protect their data. Park reiterated Fitbit’s promise on privacy and said it will remain of primary importance to the company. He added that Fitbit devices will continue to work with both Google Android and Apple iOS platforms. Here’s the Fitbit CEO’s message to users:

I am writing today to let you know that Fitbit is now an official part of Google. It’s an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and the Fitbit community of users around the world.

When Eric and I founded Fitbit 13 years ago, we did it with a simple but bold idea: to make everyone in the world healthier. Since the original Fitbit tracker shipped in 2009 to date sold over 120 million devices in more than 100 countries, this mission has never wavered. Instead, millions of you joined the mission and made Fitbit a life-changing movement. In some cases, we have heard from our users that we have helped save lives. Together, we took 275 trillion steps and logged over 15 billion hours of sleep.

This is just the beginning because joining the Google family means we can do more to inspire and motivate you on your journey to better health. We will be able to innovate faster, offer more options, and offer better products to support your health and wellness needs. On our own, we crossed the limits of what was possible from the wrist, groundbreaking, heart rate, sleep tracking and stress. With access to Google’s amazing resources, knowledge, and the global platform, the possibilities are truly limitless.

I have no doubt that this acquisition will create many opportunities. But I also want you to know that many of the things you know and love about Fitbit will remain the same. We will remain committed to doing the right thing, placing your health and wellness at the heart of everything we do and offering an approach that does not fit all with options that work across both Android and iOS.

Our users’ trust will continue to be of the utmost importance, and we will maintain strong data privacy and security protections, giving you control over your data and staying transparent about what we collect and why. Google will continue to protect the privacy of Fitbit users and has made a series of binding commitments with global regulators, assuring that the health and wellness data of Fitbit users will not be used in Google ads and this data will be kept separate from other Google ads data. Google has also confirmed that it will continue to allow Fitbit users to choose to connect to third-party services. This means that you will still be able to connect your favorite health and wellness apps to your Fitbit account. These and other commitments on Google’s part reinforce why Google is an ideal Fitbit partner who will continue to put our users first and help advance our mission to make everyone in the world healthier.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your life and your health journey.

sincerely,

James Park

CEO, President and Co-Founder