Fitbit will have to pay $ 12.3 million in the United States because it did not report in time for burns caused by overheating of Ionic smart watches.
Fitbit’s Ionic smart watches were drawn from the market in 2022. Adobe Stock / AOP
Known for its activity bracelets and smart watches, Fitbit pays $ 12.3 million in the United States in order to reconcile the accusations that its overheating of Ionic smart watches has caused burns.
The case has been reported by, among other things, a technology site The Register.
According to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), Fitbit received the first reports of the problem as early as 2018, but did not inform the authorities until 2022, when the equipment was drawn from the market.
In total, 115 cases of battery overheating and 78 burns are known. CPSC believes that Fitbit knew the problem even before retracting, and many burns would have been avoided if the company had reported the defect in time.
Also read: Google neglecting Fitbit users – now closed the website
Also read: In a big comparison, 8 smart watches – is the winner of Apple Watch?
Also read: The new Fitbit was released-allows you to use Google Services
Fitbit tried to solve the problem with a software update in 2020, but it did not eliminate the risk of overheating.
As part of the agreement, Fitbit does not admit that it has acted wrong, but it is committed to improving its consumer safety practices and reporting to the authorities each year on compliance with the regulations.
Google purchased Fitbit in 2021, but the recruitment of Ionic watches was not completed until 2022, even though overheating problems were known even before the acquisition. Google has not commented on why not reporting the problems was not made as soon as the ownership shifted.