Facebook has purchased yet another company. The fitness and activity tracking app Moves will be joining the Facebook family today.
Moves will remain as an independent product, announced the company in a blog post. Much like Instagram and WhatsApp, Moves will continue to act as a standalone app and there’s no plans to share data with Facebook.
What makes Moves a unique fitness tracking app is its ability to track where you go, even if you’re not exercising. This historical location data offers a useful look into where you go and what activities you could be doing instead. While apps like UP and FitBit are focused on tracking exercise, Moves is more of a diary of your activities and movement.
Recording so much location data inevitably leads to questions of privacy and security. Our editor Suzie spoke with Moves CEO Sampo Karjalainen about how it keeps user data private and safe. Data sent to Moves’ servers is always encrypted and doesn’t share data with third-parties. Karjalainen says Moves has taken “every reasonable precautionary measure” to secure user data.
Facebook has not announced what it plans to do with Moves yet but the app’s location data could prove valuable. Facebook Places, the social network’s check-in service, has struggled to take off but Moves could provide Facebook with location data in the future. By locating users, Facebook can serve more relevant ads and can anticipate a user’s needs.
Check out our story on fitness apps and location tracking for more on Moves.
