I've been looking into getting a smart watch but they all seem to want to track where I go and/or tell my friends how many beats per second my heart pumps. Am I just a easily marketed to chump? Are there any alternatives to a smartwatch that constantly wants to phone home?
I am interested in the pebble time 2 but I'm paranoid about the included heart rate monitor. It seems a little much in my opinion. I like the functionality of all these products but I want to know that Its not being collected.
I'm pretty sure the Pebble Steel (an older model, yes) doesn't do any of the tracking by default. And, when we talk about the new ones with the heartbeat sensor, I'm not 100% sure, but it's probably able to be disabled. I'll probably be getting a pebble time 2 when it launches.
That said, I've got a pebble steel and it's the most visually appealing watch I've ever owned (my opinion) and it does everything I need it to.
Here's the thing
You should have no expectation of privacy when you're using Android or iOS. The devices are primarily surveillance devices and secondarily phones.
I've been told by people in the FBI that the only way to prevent your phone from being remotely turned on is to remove the battery.
I have had a number of Pebble watches. The current models do not have GPS or heart rate monitors. They all have a the ability to act as a pedometer. They are in fact little more than a screen on your wrist, relying heavily on the smart phone. The Pebble works better with Android than iPhone. I have owned three of them the first plastic model, the classic steel and the Pebble Time. The Pebble classic steel is the nicest looking and the screen is very clear. The Time has the better function set. There are some reliability issues with the first generation devices. I would recommend a Pebble Time
Even if they did what the heck are they going to with that?
"Hmm judging by your heart rate you walking up stairs"
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The Pebble privacy policy states that they do not sell their data to third parties, so I think that with a pebble you should be relatively safe (for now at least).
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So the pebble is open source which mean you can use a opensource client for it. The official software does want a lot of permissions.
https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=nodomain.freeyourgadget.gadgetbridge
Opensource, and not too invasive, it can't do the apps but it will still do notifications and control.
I would like to add that this open source app is not official and may not support all the features. I haven't tried it myself but it seems like and interesting project.
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The neat thing about pebble being open is there are unofficial ports for both Ubuntu and Sailfish Phones.
@SgtAwesomesauce that isn't totally true is you run an Opensource ROM on your phone (AOSP) and only use fdroid and other open source apps privacy will be greatly improved.
But that subject is a bit off topic so of you wish we can make another thread about that.