https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/8/17546224/polar-flow-smart-fitness-company-privacy-tracking-security

Finish fitness company Polar has temporarily suspended Explore, its global activity map after a pair of reports from De Correspondent and Bellingcat (via ZDNet) pointed out flaws in the app’s privacy settings that made it easy for someone to locate the location data of users, echoing a similar privacy incident with another fitness app earlier this year. It’s a worrying discovery, as one report was able to use the information to locate the names and addresses of thousands of users who appeared to work for military and intelligence services.

Polar is a Finish company that produces a variety of smart devices, including the Polar Balance smart scale, the M600 smartwatch, and M430 running watch, all of which are connect to the company’s fitness app, Polar Flow. The company’s devices work together to record one’s weight and activity, which can appear on a user’s online profile. Users can have their information included in Explore, but can also opt to have their profiles marked private, which Polar says will prevent the service with sharing that information to third party apps like Facebook.