<![CDATA[I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it.]]>I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. That data can also tell you where I live, where I've traveled, and when I've been under stress.

After reading @zackwhittaker 's recent story on Oura ring's lack of transparency reporting, I was curious about the current state of other wearables.

I looked at 12 major wearable brands to see who publishes transparency reports (aka the documents that tell you how often a company hands your data to the government).

2 out of 12 do: Apple and Google/Fitbit.

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Privacy and transparency of fitness tracking devices

TL;DR: Here’s a transparency reporting tracker for 12 health/fitness wearable brands. Introduction I’ve worn a Garmin GPS device for well over a decade. I’ve logged thousands of activities–runs, rides, swims (ugh), walks, hikes…you name it. If I’ve moved, it’s probably been logged. It’s fascinating to look back at this data periodically to see how my fitness has changed over time, and I love being able to monitor progress toward big goals.

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(whyli.me)

Wearable Device Government Data Transparency Tracker

Tracking which wearable health and fitness device companies publish transparency reports on government data requests.

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(emilyaustin.github.io)

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/b4e51a8a-a1a4-412e-8a3c-141ce2bc3052/i-ve-worn-a-garmin-for-10-years-and-logged-thousands-of-runs-rides-hikes...you-name-it.RSS for NodeFri, 05 Jun 2026 02:04:40 GMTMon, 25 May 2026 14:57:59 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 20:49:27 GMT]]>@recollir @zackwhittaker I haven't done a deep dive into these, but I have been thinking a lot about Strava lately, especially in the context of the "secret" locations (military bases, etc.) Strava uploads/workouts have betrayed. Not quite in the same vein, but still very interesting imo.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/mle/statuses/116637182674237246https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/mle/statuses/116637182674237246Mon, 25 May 2026 20:49:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 19:49:03 GMT]]>@mle It looks like most of the info is 3 years old, but Mozilla also has privacy scoring for a smattering of wearables: https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/categories/wearables/
@zackwhittaker

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/MHLoppy/statuses/116636945161772982https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/MHLoppy/statuses/116636945161772982Mon, 25 May 2026 19:49:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 18:59:42 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker has anyone tried the new open source pebble watches?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.community/ap/users/116527305612288115/statuses/116636751151352385https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.community/ap/users/116527305612288115/statuses/116636751151352385Mon, 25 May 2026 18:59:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 18:33:15 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker damn, Garmin is very famous for their military watches even the legionstories.com 's author recommended them.

Both Apple and Google don't have military grade watches. Like zero durability...

We need libre military grade watches seems like...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/ap/users/116626162513039657/statuses/116636647097790672https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/ap/users/116626162513039657/statuses/116636647097790672Mon, 25 May 2026 18:33:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 18:29:57 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker Great work. What about “secondary” site that a lot of user sof these devices use to sync their data to, like TrainingPeaks, Strava, and a few others, etc? Is there any information available for these?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mountains.social/users/recollir/statuses/116636634164210684https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mountains.social/users/recollir/statuses/116636634164210684Mon, 25 May 2026 18:29:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 17:58:04 GMT]]>@henrikbengtsson @mle @zackwhittaker My wearable after sport 😎😄

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636508802387171https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636508802387171Mon, 25 May 2026 17:58:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 17:46:13 GMT]]>@henrikbengtsson @mle @zackwhittaker Thank you for this! Open source and auditable is exactly the right direction. Pebble's revival is on my radar now — will follow the project closely. 👏

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636462199830068https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636462199830068Mon, 25 May 2026 17:46:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 17:43:52 GMT]]>@tanyelcakmak @mle @zackwhittaker it's niche compared to these giants, but the revival of the watch and their commitment to FOSS for PebbleOS running on the watch and the iOS and Android apps is refreshing (https://ericmigi.com/blog/pebble-watch-software-is-now-100percent-open-source/)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/henrikbengtsson/statuses/116636452938956486https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/henrikbengtsson/statuses/116636452938956486Mon, 25 May 2026 17:43:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 16:42:24 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker [3] I would genuinely welcome an AI that analyzes my health data privately, on-device, with zero cloud exposure. The technology exists. The barrier isn't engineering — it's that the business model depends on your data leaving your device.

The question isn't whether to use these tools. It's whether the legal infrastructure will ever catch up to what the technology already knows about us.

Digital abstinence is not a solution. Enforceable transparency is.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636211226175402https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636211226175402Mon, 25 May 2026 16:42:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 16:41:28 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker [2] Of 12 major wearable brands, only 2 publish transparency reports. The rest operate in silence — no disclosure of how often they hand your data to governments, insurers, or third parties. GDPR offers the strongest framework, but consent is buried in 40-page documents nobody reads. In the US, wearable health data sits entirely outside HIPAA. There is no equivalent protection.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636207548041674https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636207548041674Mon, 25 May 2026 16:41:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 16:40:33 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker [1] Thank you for sharing! This matters more than most people realize.

In March 2026, a French naval officer jogged on the deck of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and uploaded his Strava data. Within hours, the carrier's precise location near Cyprus was publicly traceable. One fitness app. One smartwatch. One run.

The problem isn't the technology. It's the legal vacuum around it.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636203998233975https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116549031585259443/statuses/116636203998233975Mon, 25 May 2026 16:40:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 16:31:20 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker

Time somebody made a to do this job!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.wales/users/Walrus/statuses/116636167719898868https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.wales/users/Walrus/statuses/116636167719898868Mon, 25 May 2026 16:31:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 15:40:39 GMT]]>@mle @zackwhittaker One thing you can do is trusting the vendor, the other thing you can do is: claim your posession. Neither nor allow that - at least you can try to cut the wire for garmin devices through (also then you nee to trust the vendor to a certain degree).

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.anoxinon.de/users/circus_maximus/statuses/116635968415897125https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.anoxinon.de/users/circus_maximus/statuses/116635968415897125Mon, 25 May 2026 15:40:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've worn a Garmin for 10+ years and logged thousands of runs, rides, hikes...you name it. on Mon, 25 May 2026 15:16:03 GMT]]>@mle this is excellent work!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/zackwhittaker/statuses/116635871698109640https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/zackwhittaker/statuses/116635871698109640Mon, 25 May 2026 15:16:03 GMT