Fitbit Charge 2 heart rate & fitness bracelet.
Source: Amazon
Alphabet-owned Google announced on Thursday that the Fitbit acquisition, first announced in November 2019, is final.
The deal has been scrutinized for months to see if it could further improve Google’s position in online advertising if Fitbit data is used to personalize ads.
Fitbit can help strengthen Google’s presence in the wearable device market. While Google doesn’t create its own smartwatches or fitness trackers, it does provide the software that other companies use to create smartwatches. However, they haven’t provided as much detailed information on exercise, sleep, and other metrics that are important for people looking to improve their health.
“This deal was always about devices, not data, and we knew from the start that we were going to protect the privacy of Fitbit users,” said Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of devices and services. in a statement.
“We have worked with global regulators on an approach that protects consumer privacy expectations, including a set of mandatory commitments to confirm that Fitbit users’ health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads and that data will not be used by other Google – Ad data will be separated, “he added.
The company announced that Fitbit users will still have the option to connect to third-party services so they can continue to connect various health and wellness apps to their Fitbit accounts.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
