Facebook Gets Into Fitness Tracking With Acquisition of ProtoGeo

[engine]

Can you imagine the data appearing on your Facebook timeline: I think not, imho.

Facebook is leaping into the fitness tracking market by buying a Helsinki-based maker of a mobile app that can track users and automatically determine whether they’re walking, running, biking or riding public transportation.

Facebook is announcing plans Thursday to acquire ProtoGeo Oy, maker of a mobile app called Moves. The app works in the background, quietly gathering loads of data from the phone’s accelerometer, then displaying the results in a minimalistic fashion, with each activity represented by a colored circle.Facebook Gets Into Fitness Tracking With Acquisition of ProtoGeo [blogs.wsj.com]

[bill]

Well if it helps people get up, away from their computers, and doing some exercise...

[LifeinAsia]

A friend of mine has some device that uploads workout results to FB. I perodically see "I just completed a xx-minute workout and burned yyy calories!" posts from his device.

Well if it helps people get up, away from their computers, and doing some exercise...

Or if it guilts (or at least reminds) others into getting up, away from their computers, and doing some exercise!

[engine]

I agree, we should all be exercising.

I don't think that's the problem. It's a privacy issue, imho. For example: Imagine an insurance company seeing this data. Would it not affect their decision to insure, or to establish the size of the premiums?