r/Etekcity

Etekcity’s parent company VeSync just updated their Privacy Policy (https://www.vesync.com/legal/privacy?protocol\_id=1&lang=en), by accepting, I think you’re now giving them the right to sell your personal health info to advertisers/ data brokers.

1) Permission to collect your health data
If you look at the 1st screenshot (Section 2, Subsection 10 Wellness Data):
- “Once synced, your wellness data will be collected and stored on the App’s cloud server after each use. For example, by using and syncing a smart body scale, you can record your weight and BMI in the App.”
- In other words, the moment you linked your VeSync hardware to the VeSync app, you are granting them permission to access and store your health data (“Your Consent”). While this is necessary for the app to work (otherwise it wouldn’t be able to display your weight/ BMI/ blood pressure for example within the app), the way they use this “consent” in the next 2 sections is worrying.
- To see the full list of health data they can collect, scroll to the end of this post.*

2) What they can do with your health data
If you look at the 3rd screenshot (Section 3 How We Use the Collected Information):
- Scroll down to the Wellness Data section, among other purposes, it includes “provide you with personalized recommendations, product offerings and promotions.” The legal basis - “Your Consent”.
- Now if at this point, you’re thinking that’s fine, it’s just the same company having access to your data anyway (which I personally don’t agree with, but to each their own), read on. They don’t just use your data for their own products/ promotions.

3) Who they share the data with
If you look at the 4th screenshot (Section 4 Personal Data Sharing and Disclosures):
- “Sharing with advertising, marketing, and analytics providers: we may disclose your data with other companies that conduct marketing and advertising services to promote products and services. This includes advertisers, publishers, social media platforms, advertising technology providers, and analytics vendors that help us offer and measure the effectiveness of our advertising and other marketing offers targeted advertising and other marketing offers.”
- I’m not a practicing lawyer but how can I interpret this part as anything other than “We share your data with advertisers. They are allowed to use this data for other companies/ other marketing campaigns as well. Eg high BMI - How about some weight loss pills? High BP - would you like to buy this miracle BP controlling gadget?“
- (I don’t think they’re allowed to sell this info to insurance/ health companies to jack prices up but as I said, not a lawyer so I’ll wait for someone more qualified to explain this.)

But needless to say, I don’t think any of my fellow VeSync customers should agree to/ accept this updated TOS.

*Full list of data VeSync potentially collects according to their own Privacy Policy Section 2, Subsection 10:
“Below is list of wellness data associated with each category of our products:
If you use our wellness products such as smart scales or smart kitchen appliances, you can voluntarily sync the following information with the VeSync App:
Weight, height, metabolic age, gender, body composition such as BMI (Body Mass Index), muscle mass, body water, skeletal mass, BMR, body fat, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, bone mass, protein, etc., cooking history, food name, food weight, and food nutrition information such as calories, fat, sugar, protein, carbs, trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, dietary fiber, iron, VD, VA, VC, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, calcium, etc.
If you use smart trackers and smart watches, you can voluntarily sync the following information with the VeSync App:
Weight, height, metabolic age, gender, stride, distance, duration, number of steps, sleep status, calories, workout records, sleep records, heart rate records, and blood oxygen records.
If you use smart blood pressure monitors, you can voluntarily sync the following information with the VeSync App:
Systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, and pulse.
If you use smart pulse oximeter, you can voluntarily sync the following information with the VeSync App:
Oxygen saturation, perfusion Index, and pulse.
If you use wellness services in our App and Websites, we may collect the information you voluntarily provide, such as:
Exercise-related information (e.g. exercise preference, exercise plan, exercise record);
Body measurements (e.g. birthday, height, weight, waist, bust size, hip size);
Diet-related information (e.g. diet plan, diet preference, food list, diet record); and/or
Health-related information (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose, allergies).”