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"Cheats" to have ankle "Steps" removed! Fitbit Charge HR worn around cyclists ankle
We've found out that a plan has been developed to take away "Steps" from Fitness Tracker users that placed a device intended to be worn on the wrist, onto the ankle or shoe to ensure that they gain steps during non step based activities. A leaked report from the Strategic Tracker Ethical Policy Society (STEPS), of which all major Fitness Tracker manufacturers are members, clearly shows that there is increasing frustration that wrist worn devices are being placed on other parts of the body to gain steps.
We contacted the STEPS press office for comment but they would not acknowledge the report. Spokesperson Ivor J Orbone did say that "clearly wrist devices must be worn on your wrist, and if you are not carrying out a stepping exercise, you should not cheat to get steps by placing the device elsewhere". He went on to say "my wife does this all the time and it is not correct, especially if she beats me in a Stepping Challenge or Duel".  Fitness Tracker App showing removal of 35,000 steps
from users weekly total.
The report discusses a "backdoor" into the Smartphone apps that most devices use and that this will be used to re-evaluate users data records for each day and any Steps found to have been achieved incorrectly will be removed from their records which will then show lower totals. Users may see a notification similar to the screen shown here when they log in to check their stats.
We contacted reward schemes like Bounts and Pact to see what impact this would have and hypothetically, a user with "cheat" steps removed could be asked to return rewards earned by cheating. Klaus Lotz-Ofzteps said "we know people will not be happy but basically this could be seen as fraud and people may need to return their Costa gift cards or Amazon vouchers if their step count goes down". It remains to be seen if this policy will be enacted and we will bring you any news as soon as we hear it. April 1st, 2016 |