fitbit: Read Fitbit CEO James Park’s Open Letter to Users – Latest News

Google has completed its $ 2.1 billion acquisition of mainstream Fitbit. Company CEO James Park welcomed the news and said the deal will help Fitbit “to innovate faster, offer more choice and make even better products.” He also wrote an open letter to Fitbit users assuring them that their data will be protected. Park reiterated Fitbit’s privacy promise and said it will continue to be paramount to the company. He added that Fitbit devices will continue to work with the Google Android and Apple iOS platforms. Here is the letter from Fitbit CEO to users:

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

When Eric and I founded Fitbit 13 years ago, we did so with a simple but bold idea: to make everyone healthier in the world. Since shipping the original Fitbit tracker in 2009 for selling over 120 million devices in over 100 countries, that mission has never wavered. Instead, millions of you have joined this mission and made Fitbit a movement that has transformed lives. In some cases, our users have told us that we have even helped save lives. Together we have taken 275 trillion steps and logged over 15 billion hours of sleep.

This is just the beginning, because being part of the Google family means we can do even more to inspire and motivate you on your journey to better health. We’ll be able to innovate faster, offer more choice, and make even better products to meet your health and wellness needs. On our side, we pushed the limits of what was possible with the wrist, pioneering, heart rate, sleep and stress tracking. With access to Google’s incredible resources, knowledge and global platform, the possibilities are truly limitless.

I am convinced that this acquisition will create many opportunities. But I also want you to know that most of the things you know and love about Fitbit will stay the same. We’ll remain committed to doing the right thing, putting your health and wellness at the center of everything we do, and delivering a unique approach with choices that work on both Android and iOS.

The trust of our users will remain paramount and we will maintain strong protections for privacy and data security, allowing you to control your data and remain 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, confirming that Fitbit user health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads and that these data will be kept separate from other Google advertising data. . Google also said it will continue to allow Fitbit users to choose to connect to third-party services. This means you’ll still be able to connect your favorite health and wellness apps to your Fitbit account. These and other commitments from Google reinforce why Google is a great fitbit partner that will continue to put our users first and help advance our mission of making everyone healthier.

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

Regards,

James park

CEO, president and co-founder