But how do regular smartwatches stack up? With the deluge of smartwatches on the market these days, and the vast array of complicated differences between models, it can be hard to know which models are going to be the best for privacy and security.
Generally speaking, Apple does maintain a higher internal privacy standard than other companies at its level. That’s not to say that this internal standard is anywhere near as good as what we should have (standards imposed by an international regulatory body), but they do help set a basic benchmark for the industry. To that end, Apple’s watch is probably the best in terms of privacy and security, as long as you’ve already taken steps to secure your other Apple devices. Of course, Apple’s watch is useless without the rest of the Apple products to create the ecosystem, so you either need to have already bought in, or you’re looking at a pretty expensive switch.
Withings is another smartwatch maker to take note of, though there are some serious concerns that their company has failed to address. Mostly, Withings designs various “smart” medical devices such as thermometers, scales, and blood pressure sensors. Their watches are unique in the industry for looking great (like actual watches), having many of the same health features that the Apple Watch does (including advanced heart rate monitoring functions), and a month-long batter life. Their privacy policy and security information are a little hard to find, but they seem to have relatively good protections in place, conforming to GDPR and HIPAA standards. They don’t go out of their way to support customers in finding this information, however. Questions on their forums are unanswered, and there wasn’t any obvious notice that they never sell or provide your data to 3rd parties beyond those contractually obligated to use that data for specific functions. That’s a bit frustrating, and I hope Withings can offer greater insights in the future.
Finally, despite some recent severe data breaches, Garmin watches are a great choice because the user doesn’t need to connect their real information to the Garmin account, nor do they need to use the online connection between the Garmin app and the watch. Some users, with some models of Garmin watches, have even been able to use GadgetBridge to bypass Garmin’s app altogether, others just use a physical connection to a PC to transfer data when needed.
Whatever you do, avoid all watches “for kids” since these tend to be the worst offenders for tracking problems and security breaches. In the extremely unlikely case that your child needs a high-tech computer strapped to their wrist 24/7, get them one of the privacy-respecting models that offers limited features.