Study: Apple Watch trumps standalone fitness trackers in terms of privacy and security

Privacy and security aren't issues most of us have in mind when thinking about our fitness trackers. Mostly though of as 'dumb' devices or a collection of sensors that are designed around tracking physical activity, they don't seem like the types of gadgets that will be susceptible to attacks or data exploits. 

A recent study held by Open Effect called Every Step You Fake took a look at eight fitness trackers and wearables and determined that seven out of the eight fitness trackers emit persistent unique identifiers (Bluetooth media addresses, etc,). Many were shown to have vulnerabilities in their companion smartphone apps and some can even be used to create fake fitness band records. Apple's Apple Watch, which features activity tracking features, a hear rate monitor and various motivational features to keep user's moving, was the only device that did not exhibit security vulnerabilities. This is likely because, watchOS, as an extension of the ironclad iOS platform, surely has key security loopholes covered in their Watch products.

Check our the full report here.