How to Publish Wearables' Data: Practical Guidelines to Protect User Privacy.

The spread of wearable fitness trackers has contributed to the increase of various fitness studies, utilizing such devices to collect data from a group of users. When these data are disclosed, the lack of sanitization can lead to severe privacy risks. In this paper, we discuss the various threats that are posed by disclosing unaltered information from wearable devices.

Do You Know Who Is Talking to Your Wearable Smartband?

We study seven fitness trackers and their associated smartphone apps from a wide variety of manufacturers, and record who they are talking to. Our results suggest that some of them communicate with unexpected third parties, including social networks, advertisement websites, weather services, and various external APIs. This implies that such unanticipated third-parties may glean personal information of users.