During the pandemic, many people ditched their gym memberships and invested in personal exercising equipment, helping companies such as Peloton and NordicTrack take off.
But Consumer Reports is out with a warning that those companies, and others like them, are harvesting sensitive data.
The consumer watchdog recently conducted an investigation of 10 fitness companies, including Peloton and NordicTrack, and found that along with user’s basic data, such as height or age, companies might be collecting information regarding pregnancy status and dietary habits.
In the case of BowFlex, Consumer Reports found its privacy contract allows the company to collect and share olfactory data — or the user’s smell. Though, the Consumer Report said it’s unclear if that’s happening; the company didn’t respond to a request to comment.
“The concern is that medical information would be treated the same as anything else, like shopping habits,” said Steven Blair, the security test program leader for Consumer Reports. “The policies are written in a very, very broad way.”
Blair said while user’s information is generally used for targeted advertisements, it’s not always clear with whom who the user’s information is being shared with, and how secure the companies’ servers are.
“To be fair, some brands we looked at do say that they adhere to privacy laws, but that’s the absolute minimum, right? That’s what they’re forced to,” Blair said.
He recommended checking the apps’ privacy settings, so information isn’t being shared publicly. In some cases, customers aren’t able to delete their collected data on the app, but can reach out directly to the company to do so.
Consumer Reports also has a tool, called the permission slip, that directs companies to delete a user’s personal data.
Peloton told Consumer Reports it doesn’t sell its members’ information to data brokers, though the company’s privacy policy said it may use the data it collects for marketing.
A representative from Hydrow, another company Consumer Reports looked at, said the company “fully adheres to all applicable data privacy regulations.”
Tonal, which Consumer Reports said stores video of its users, said to the consumer watchdog, “We save only those recordings that a customer has decided to save.”
“Members can review their videos to assess their form and refine their movements,” Tonal said. “If desired, they can delete their recordings at any time.”