Facebook Was Mystery Firm Bidding Against Google To Buy Fitbit, Report Says

Facebook is the mystery "Party A" revealed in an SEC filing that bid several times to acquire health wearables maker Fitbit, including a best and final offer of $7.30 per share, according CNBC citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: Google announced its intentions to acquire Fitbit on Nov. 1 for about $2.1 billion in cash, or $7.35 per share. Facebook views the sale process as complete and doesn't plan to bid again now that Google has agreed to the purchase, one of the people said.

According to the filing, Fitbit CEO James Park had dinner with "the chief executive officer of Party A" on June 11, 2019, to discuss the wearables technology landscape. That person would be Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sources said. Park and other members of Fitbit's senior management had dinner with Zuckerberg again on July 2, the filing said. Zuckerberg and Park met once more in September, according to the filing. In October, Facebook bid several times to acquire Fitbit, the filing said, but ultimately said $7.30 per share was the company's best and final offer.

We value your privacy

[stealth_finger]

You know that, right? Here, let me tell you again.

The lack of privacy is the big risk

[Anonymous Coward]

FitBit's main client is no longer the person wearing the device. It's the businesses that want to collect and sell the data. Coupled with the location tracking they now provide, and communicating with your medical devices such as inulin pumps, they've become even more insidious. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no longer a market for these devices since they've been replaced by cell phones.

Re:The lack of privacy is the big risk

[Krakadoom]

They have definitely not been replaced by cell phones. Working out with a fitbit on your wrist is much more comfortable than lugging around a phone. Functionally they may be able to serve the same purposes, but form factor is also important in this space.
 
  That data is a commodity isn't exactly news either, but I'm not aware that you sign away your rights to your data when you use a fitbit. Is that the case (or was it in recent history)?

Re:

[sg_oneill]

Yes, but people are already lugging around a phone regardless. People who leave their house without a cell phone are pretty rare in 2019

Re:

[Z00L00K]

As I'm already stuck in google I feel at least better about the fact that Fitbit ended up there than in the hands of Facebook which I have isolated out.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Quakeulf]

It was a huge money laundering operation.

Re:

[froggyjojodaddy]

Would you or someone else care to explain? I'm genuinely curious why Fitbit would be considered a money laundering operation. I own a Fitbit and find it to be very useful. It's a nice piece of tech, as far as wrist-worn tech goes. The app and it's functionality are very good too. They have products that are selling and it's not like they're way over priced so where's the money laundering part?

Re:

[Rockoon]

It is unlikely to be a money laundering operation.

To launder money, it is important to be able to over-state your profits. Selling products doesn't help. Selling services does, which is why businesses like laundromats, car washes, arcades, massage parlors, etc are the mobsters businesses of choice.

Re:

[nipslan]

You are thinking about reoccurring laundering. A one time significant loss is a great white wash for money.

Re:

[Retired ICS]

I thought numbers (lotteries), prostitutes, extortion, protection, and drugs were the mobsters businesses of choice? Sort of the same lines of business as that other criminal enterprise colloquially referred to as "the government".

Re:

[Antique Geekmeister]

> To launder money, it is important to be able to over-state your profits

I'm not sure I'd call it "overstating profits". I'm particularly thinking of criminals who buy winning lottery tickets from ordinary citizens. The citizen is paid in cash, which they do not report for tax purposes. The criminal uses their stolen illegally obtained income. to obtain legitimate, tax-reportable, laundered income.

Re: Talk about pulling a rabbit out of a hat...

[TheMeuge]

Google was going to win this bidding ear regardless of price. Healthcare is the next field of battle for the internet giants, and Google is determined to dominate. They would like their AI to power the socialization of medicine, to have their computers determine how long you need to wait for that MRI, and who should get what treatment. The decisions will be completely unbiased, just like the YouTube algorithms.

Re:

[rsborg]

They would like their AI to power the socialization of medicine

LOL - as opposed to the current "privatization" of medicine and your health where you get treated only if it helps someone else's bottom line.

Google wants in on either outcome of course. But this demonization of government involvement in healthcare is BS. Governments are somewhat accountable to their constituency via voting. Corporations have no such requirement/weakness as long as the dollars flow - in fact, they're happy to kneecap you if it makes them more money - because that's all they care about

Re:

[richy freeway]

We heard you the first 200 times you posted this.

Re:

[Mordaximus]

I still think a valid, verified (and logged in) account should be required to post as AC.

Re:

[Malays Bowman]

I dunno, because I've been having my own share of nightmares regarding internet usage. My latest personal nightmare is when I try to view a news site (not the clickbait garbage, but actual local news sites) on my phone, and I watch the page I am trying to read getting demolished right before my eyes with huge page overlays. Switching off Javascript temporarly solves this problem, and I have Ublock installed on my laptop, but it's a royal pain, and it's getting worse and worse. Wait until news sites get 'hi

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

How to avoid data collection

[maynard]

If you buy a Chinese XiaoMi Band 3 (last generation) or a Amazfit Bip (also last generation), you can use the Open Source tool GadgetBridge to extract the data locally to your phone and never have it sent to a central third party. Thus: PRIVACY.

https://github.com/Freeyourgad... [github.com]

Here's a video on how to get it installed and set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

Using more modern fitness trackers requires rooting your phone to extract a Bluetooth pairing key. The documentation explains how to do that and whi

Re:

[Retired ICS]

You can do this with a "just released yesterday" Garmin device by merely plugging it into an available USB port and "copying" the files. No need to have old devices, however, they behave the same way. And no need for third-party software of unknown provenance to be able to copy the files. Just plug it in and copy away!

It doesn't matter of it's Google or Facebook

[Malays Bowman]

..or NoNameHitechWidgets Inc, all of them are willing to sell your data to the salivating hordes of insurance men ready to pour through all of that juicy data
to see whose claims they can deny or whose rates they can jack up.

  Bottom line: If your health monitor is sending telemetry to anybody. except a doctor who is using this because you are recovering from a serious injury or illness, assume your insurance coverage is at risk.

Too bad

[azcoyote]

There's just something appealing about rebranding it into "Facebit."

What next?

[slick7]

First, unfettered access to your medical records. Then, real time access to your health status. And lastly, a proven record of censorship of anything that doesn't toe the party line. What next, insurance only to the politically, socially, financially, healthwise correct, where everyone else is persona non grata?

Wow... If I could have picked...

[rnturn]

... a worse company to send my fitness data to, it would have been Facebook. Not that Google is a much better option but it would have taken me about a microsecond to ditch a Fitbit device had the company come under Zuckerberg's control.