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BsAtHome [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Register runs an interesting story [theregister.co.uk] about the Fitbit's accuracy:

Scientists have tested a pair of wearable fitness gadgets from Fitbit and found they get heart rates wrong by as much as 25 beats per minute.
The study (PDF) [lieffcabraser.com] was commissioned by law firm Lieff Cabraser, which is running a class action against Fitbit over inaccurate heart rate readings.

Not only is this a dangerous flaw, but imagine what happens to your insurance when wrong numbers are propagated in the system.

The results are not only scary, but dangerous as well when you rely on non-medical equipment's data:

This study will scare the many athletes - serious competitors and weekend warriors alike – who aim to train at certain heart rates. If the devices over-report heart rates, users will have trained at lower heart rates than they wanted to achieve. If the devices under-report, users may be straining to reach heart rates beyond their optimal peak levels. Which can end badly.

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