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Fitness trackers can be used against you in a court of law

i like my fitbit anyway. given that i carry around a mobile most of the time, i figure that every public and private entity already knows what i'm doing. if they want to listen to Bob Dylan and detective novels, then that's on them.
 
Oh I have to admit when I read the story I expected something a bit more nefarious. This was just good police work. Also that woman trying to frame her boss is what's wrong with America. I'll just leave it at that.
 
Another device and another thing for the government to use against you. On the bright side, I don't have one of these things. Yay me!
 
It sounds like it can be used to confirm your innocence. For someone like me that has no plans to commit a crime, much less lie about it, it sounds like a plus.

My main concern would be that the inaccuracy somehow works against me.
 
Absentglare said:
It sounds like it can be used to confirm your innocence. For someone like me that has no plans to commit a crime, much less lie about it, it sounds like a plus.

My main concern would be that the inaccuracy somehow works against me.
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Innocence or guilt.

My big fear would be incorrect interpretation by humans.

I don't have one, but if I did...
 
My concern is if it is my devise and I want to keep the information private can a court overrule my right to privacy.
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
My concern is if it is my devise and I want to keep the information private can a court overrule my right to privacy.
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You mean to ask 'does a right to privacy argument defeat a warrant'?
 
ecofarm said:
You mean to ask 'does a right to privacy argument defeat a warrant'?
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I have the right to not testify against myself. Private property and personal effect should fall into that category. If I burn my diary instead of turning it over.
 
Absentglare said:
It sounds like it can be used to confirm your innocence. For someone like me that has no plans to commit a crime, much less lie about it, it sounds like a plus.

My main concern would be that the inaccuracy somehow works against me.
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The thing is, real life is rarely that simple. And civil liberties were never intended to protect the guilty, they were intended to protect the innocent. Your device may very well exonerate you if the police were looking at you as a suspect. However if they are looking at you as a suspect then they probably already have something other reason to look at you, and maybe your device this is you in the area of the crime being committed. Or maybe you tell them you were asleep believing you were, but you made a mistake when talking to them and your fit bit shows you active well you've just made it look more suspicious. My advice remains the same, be mindful of what data your devices are collecting, if you're being looked at as a suspect consult with a lawyer, and do not consent to them pulling your information.
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
I have the right to not testify against myself. Private property and personal effect should fall into that category. If I burn my diary instead of turning it over.
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On the other hand, if you know the police are coming for your device or your diary, and they are in the process of obtaining a want for it and you go destroy it, you're now guilty of the crime of destroying evidence.

They may well come in and asked to see your device, and you told him to go screw off, if the officer says OK we're getting a warrant for it and orders you not to destroy it, you can be subject to criminal penalties for doing that
 
Chomsky said:
I hope she does some time over this!
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I feel someone convicted of falsely accusing should serve the time they tried to hang the person with.

Convicted of falsely accusing of rape = serving time for rape

That would certainly make people think twice before falsely accusing someone of something.

MISTAKEN is different than deliberately falsely accusing.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
The thing is, real life is rarely that simple. And civil liberties were never intended to protect the guilty, they were intended to protect the innocent. Your device may very well exonerate you if the police were looking at you as a suspect. However if they are looking at you as a suspect then they probably already have something other reason to look at you, and maybe your device this is you in the area of the crime being committed. Or maybe you tell them you were asleep believing you were, but you made a mistake when talking to them and your fit bit shows you active well you've just made it look more suspicious. My advice remains the same, be mindful of what data your devices are collecting, if you're being looked at as a suspect consult with a lawyer, and do not consent to them pulling your information.
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and also remember the cops can LEGALLY LIE to you all day long.

They make their stripes by getting arrests....." tell it to the judge! "
now that arrest stays on your record even if you are innocent and all charges were dropped.

YOU are the one that has to pay a lawyer even more money to expunge your record.

Oh, and 30% of that money goes to the arresting agency. This means say $1,000 goes to clear your record, they will get $333 of it for their illegal and unwarranted arrest. How are those numbers for ya....I know!

Welcome to the land of the free. You only have the rights you can pay for. No money = no rights
 
EMNofSeattle said:
On the other hand, if you know the police are coming for your device or your diary, and they are in the process of obtaining a want for it and you go destroy it, you're now guilty of the crime of destroying evidence.

They may well come in and asked to see your device, and you told him to go screw off, if the officer says OK we're getting a warrant for it and orders you not to destroy it, you can be subject to criminal penalties for doing that
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So it is a balancing act

balance what trouble you can get into for destroying the evidence VS. what trouble you can get into on what they are trying to pin on you.

decisions, decisions.

A much better decision is to NOT buy a FITBIT, and leave your cell phone at home.
 
radcen said:
Interesting. Hadn't thought of this, but upon thinking about it it seems obvious.
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It is like carrying a phone. The police can later see that your phone was somewhere else and that you might not be the perpetrator after all.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
On the other hand, if you know the police are coming for your device or your diary, and they are in the process of obtaining a want for it and you go destroy it, you're now guilty of the crime of destroying evidence.

They may well come in and asked to see your device, and you told him to go screw off, if the officer says OK we're getting a warrant for it and orders you not to destroy it, you can be subject to criminal penalties for doing that
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Depending on the original crime, the penalty for destroying evidence may be far less.

2 yrs for destroying evidence vs life for murder... or no murder option if they now cannot prove their case.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
On the other hand, if you know the police are coming for your device or your diary, and they are in the process of obtaining a want for it and you go destroy it, you're now guilty of the crime of destroying evidence.

They may well come in and asked to see your device, and you told him to go screw off, if the officer says OK we're getting a warrant for it and orders you not to destroy it, you can be subject to criminal penalties for doing that
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I know the law and you are right. I just wish we had not lost our right to privacy. I wish our government and everyone would for that matter would respect and acknowledge a person needs privacy.

A diary I would consider private. The fact that exists is not private. What is written is private.
A telephone conversation to your psychiatrist. The conversation private. The fact that you called and at what time. Not private.
A phone call to Walmart to see if they are open not private.

It is not hard to determine what is private and what is not in most cases. A person or government filming people in the restroom is a violation of privacy. It is done to gather information that cannot be gathered any other way but the information should not be used against someone in a court of law. There should be a right to some privacy in peoples lives.
 
Damn....

this is their image a fitness tracker? hell... I WANT ONE.

clark-howard_504996630.jpg
 
They can already track us with our phone and I have that practically 99% of the time so... and I don't have a fitness tracker so...
 
EMNofSeattle said:
The thing is, real life is rarely that simple. And civil liberties were never intended to protect the guilty, they were intended to protect the innocent. Your device may very well exonerate you if the police were looking at you as a suspect. However if they are looking at you as a suspect then they probably already have something other reason to look at you, and maybe your device this is you in the area of the crime being committed. Or maybe you tell them you were asleep believing you were, but you made a mistake when talking to them and your fit bit shows you active well you've just made it look more suspicious. My advice remains the same, be mindful of what data your devices are collecting, if you're being looked at as a suspect consult with a lawyer, and do not consent to them pulling your information.
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I agree, but i suppose i did not exhaustively state my concerns.

What if someone manipulates fitbit's numbers ? What if the fitbit is poorly calibrated and erroneously finds me at fault in an accident ?

A fitbit is hardly a secure device and i have little confidence in its precision.
 
Henrin said:
Another device and another thing for the government to use against you. On the bright side, I don't have one of these things. Yay me!
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In the case of the OP, you should be thankful it was used against her.

She was doing one of the most reprehensible things imaginable... falsely claiming rape.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
The thing is, real life is rarely that simple. And civil liberties were never intended to protect the guilty, they were intended to protect the innocent. Your device may very well exonerate you if the police were looking at you as a suspect. However if they are looking at you as a suspect then they probably already have something other reason to look at you, and maybe your device this is you in the area of the crime being committed. Or maybe you tell them you were asleep believing you were, but you made a mistake when talking to them and your fit bit shows you active well you've just made it look more suspicious. My advice remains the same, be mindful of what data your devices are collecting, if you're being looked at as a suspect consult with a lawyer, and do not consent to them pulling your information.
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There honestly aren't a whole lot of situations in which this can be used against someone though. If you said you were at the mall, and they were trying to put you at the target down the street, this doesn't really do much for them.

It can really only help if you claim you were sleeping and you weren't, or something like that. Even if you were watching TV, they can't prove the few steps you took to the fridge or to check on the kids were or were not you committing a crime with that "movement" instead.
 
Caine said:
There honestly aren't a whole lot of situations in which this can be used against someone though. If you said you were at the mall, and they were trying to put you at the target down the street, this doesn't really do much for them.

It can really only help if you claim you were sleeping and you weren't, or something like that. Even if you were watching TV, they can't prove the few steps you took to the fridge or to check on the kids were or were not you committing a crime with that "movement" instead.
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on the other hand, if the information contradicts what you may have told them, you have now lied to a peace officer. which can bring suspicion on you. I mean you are correct in that information may be hard to pin something on you, but you have no real way of knowing the extent of a police investigation or what they are looking for, and what information might hurt you.
 
EMNofSeattle said:
on the other hand, if the information contradicts what you may have told them, you have now lied to a peace officer. which can bring suspicion on you. I mean you are correct in that information may be hard to pin something on you, but you have no real way of knowing the extent of a police investigation or what they are looking for, and what information might hurt you.
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I probably have a better idea than most.... considering I conducted investigations for 7 years of my life :)

But seriously, any law enforcement officer proffering a GUESS as to what you COULD have been doing because you were more or less active than they THINK you SHOULD HAVE, will be laughed out of court, since GUESSES aren't allowed as testimony in court.
 
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