The Singapore government has announced a partnership with Fitbit to provide hundreds of thousands of citizens with free smart watches that track the wearer's fitness, at an original price of $ 100.
However, the issue is not so simple. Participants will have to sign up for the new Live Health SG program, pay a monthly subscription of $ 10, and agree to give the Singapore government access to all of the health data it collects. About Digital Trends.
The benefits to the government and the company are clear. The user data collected by these smart watches is valuable, and Fitbit will get millions of dollars from the deal, but it is difficult to determine the long-term benefits of people who will pay for a fitness program.
The company did not announce the amount it expected to receive from the Singapore deal, but the company's CEO, James Park, told CNBC that he expects to register hundreds of thousands of people, which is a big part of the company's plan to switch to the system of monthly contributions.
"We expect one million people to enroll in the program," he said.
Despite the expected success of FTBT, it is not yet known whether these watches will provide valuable health data to Singapore residents.