Fitbit is presently facing a lawsuit by four California-based plaintiffs claiming their heart rate monitor isn’t up to scratch, but one satisfied user has determined that his wearable caught the moment he got his heart broken.
Fitbit knows that breaking up is hard to do, just ask this guy
Breakups are tough, I’ve just gone through one and remain a bit gutted to this day. However, unlike the guy in following story I’m not exactly sure how it’s affected my sleep or overall health. While a group of lawyers are looking to have a lawsuit brought by four plaintiffs in California upgraded to class action status against the company for its perceived problems with the Surge’s heart rate monitor, this guy swears that his Fitbit has been actively tracking his present heartbreak.
Koby Soto, 28, and a law student at Tel Aviv University is a pretty connected guy. For the last five months, Soto has been tracking his heart rate, steps, sleep and other activities with the help of a Fitbit Charge HR. I say pretty connected as Soto also has a nest security camera as well as an app-connected lock on his front door.
Anyways, on a recent Saturday Soto and his then boyfriend (also a law student) had plans to take the night off from studying for exams. But best laid plans and all that…..Soto explains a midday call from his ex-boyfriend, “He said that we’re going to have to cancel, and I said ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘Things are not working as they should,’” Soto recalled in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “I said, ‘Are you serious? You’re doing this over the phone?’”
Fitbit knew of the breakup immediately
That night, Soto was lamenting his heartbreak and commiserating with a friend who told him to relax. Soto immediately told the friend that not only couldn’t he relax but he couldn’t study or sleep. He looked to his Fitbit to prove it and was surprised to find out that the app agreed. In the morning before the breakup call (tacky, that) Soto averaged a resting heart rate of 72 beats per minute. But from the moment of the break up call to the call with his friend his heart rate had jumped past 88 at one point peaking at 118.
“I wasn’t doing anything, I didn’t go to the gym, I didn’t expect the Fitbit to even track me,” he told BuzzFeed News. “It was just on me.”
That doesn’t freak you out a bit Cody?
“I feel like it’s nice to have a log of your confirmation of what you felt. You can tell people you have heartbreak and you feel bad,” Soto said. “People become less cynical once you show them the numbers or once you show the data or graphs. Everyone understands heartbreak, right? Everyone’s felt it. When you have this, it’s interesting — you have something to show.”
Now, if I was Fitbit and facing a potential class-action lawsuit over its ability to accurately track a person’s heart break, I would most certainly get Soto’s number in my virtual Rolodex. Hell, I would likely subpoena him. While it could be argued that this a bit of an invasion, I wouldn’t. The Fitbit Charge HR didn’t walk over to Soto’s house and put itself on his wrist anymore than it charges itself when needed. Rather, it just shows why more and more people are buying activity tracking wearables.
