Fitbit data and analytics will set new legal precedent in court claims

Wearable tech data being used to assess the health of a claimant after a personal injury

Information collected from Fitbit wearable devicesis being used in a case relating to personal injury, helping to show the effects of an accident on a claimant.

McLeod Law in Calgary, Canada plans to use data from a Fitbit wristband to help a client who was injured four years ago, according to a report in Forbes.

The law firm's client was a fitness instructor and deemed to have led an active lifestyle. McLeod Law said that it will use the tracking data to show that the client's activity levels are now below the baseline for a person of their age and profession as a result of the injury.

McLeod Law will not use the Fitbit data directly but will channel it through an analytics platform called Vivametrica, which compares activity data against public research on the general population.

The case appears to be the first time that data from wearable technology is being used in court, effectively setting a legal precedent.

Simon Muller from McLeod Law said that the firm was limited to clinical interpretation in personal injury claims before the widespread availability of wearable fitness bands.

"Now we are looking at longer periods of time through the course of the day, and we have hard data," the lawyer said.

"Wearable device data could also be used by insurance companies to assess the legitimacy of potentially fraudulent claims.

It is unlikely that insurers will be able to force claimants to wear fitness trackers to assess their physical health, but they could request a subpoena that demands the release of fitness data from a law firm or wearable technology provider.

Data from wearable technology is also poised to become more prevalent in business. A recent partnership between Samsung and SAP hopes to build on this trend and create a wearable technology ecosystem of hardware and software applications.

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