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Privacy Policy

Effective date: 09/22/2026

1. About FIT WITH US

FIT WITH US is a health research and coaching platform operated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham through RERC RecTech. The platform supports participant engagement in health-related programs and research activities, including the collection and display of physical activity information.

This Privacy Policy explains how FIT WITH US collects, accesses, uses, stores, protects, shares, retains, and deletes information when you use:

  • The FIT WITH US public website at https://fitwithus.org;

  • The FIT WITH US participant application;

  • The FIT WITH US Google Health integration;

  • The FIT WITH US Fitbit integration during the migration to Google Health; and

  • Related research, health-coaching, support, and administrative services.

Participation in a research study may also be governed by an informed-consent document or other study notice. If a study-specific notice provides additional information about how research data is handled, that notice applies together with this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with FIT WITH US, we may collect the following categories of information.

Account and profile information

We may collect information used to establish and manage your FIT WITH US account, such as:

  • Your name;

  • Email address or other contact information;

  • Account identifiers;

  • Login and authentication information;

  • Participant or study identifiers;

  • Study group or intervention assignment;

  • Enrollment, eligibility, participation, and account status information; and

  • Information provided by you or authorized study personnel when your account is created or maintained.

Health, fitness, and activity information

When authorized by you and permitted by the applicable research protocol, FIT WITH US may collect or receive health, fitness, and activity information, including:

  • Daily step counts;

  • Activity dates and related activity records;

  • Activity totals and progress over time;

  • Information previously received through the Fitbit Web API; and

  • Information received through the Google Health API after you connect your Google Health account.

The particular information collected depends on the study, features you use, permissions you grant, and connected service.

Program and research information

We may collect information associated with your participation in FIT WITH US, such as:

  • Program engagement;

  • Study participation;

  • Intervention progress;

  • Completion of assigned activities;

  • Use of educational materials, videos, or articles;

  • Coaching or support interactions; and

  • Information collected through approved study activities.

Technical and usage information

When you access our website or application, we may automatically receive limited technical information, such as:

  • IP address;

  • Browser and device type;

  • Operating system;

  • Pages or features accessed;

  • Date and time of access;

  • Application events;

  • Error and security logs; and

  • Cookie or session information needed to operate and secure the service.

Communications

If you contact FIT WITH US, we may collect your contact information and the contents of your communication so that we can respond, provide support, or maintain appropriate study and administrative records.

3. Google Health Data

Google Health information we access

FIT WITH US accesses Google Health information only after an authenticated participant affirmatively selects the option to connect Google Health and grants permission through Google’s OAuth authorization process.

FIT WITH US requests the following Google Health permission:

Google Health activity and fitness read-only access

This permission allows FIT WITH US to read authorized activity and fitness information, including daily step counts and related activity records.

FIT WITH US does not use this permission to add, modify, or delete data in Google Health. We do not request Google Health write access.

We may also receive technical identifiers and OAuth authorization information required to associate the Google Health connection with the correct FIT WITH US participant account and maintain the authorized connection.

How we use Google Health data

FIT WITH US uses authorized Google Health data to:

  • Synchronize daily step counts and related activity information;

  • Display day-by-day activity in the participant dashboard;

  • Show activity progress over time;

  • Reduce the need for participants to enter activity information manually;

  • Track participation and engagement in the FIT WITH US program;

  • Support authorized health-coaching activities;

  • Support approved research activities and study workflows; and

  • Maintain and troubleshoot the participant’s requested Google Health connection.

We use Google Health data only for the user-facing, research, health-coaching, security, and support purposes described in this Privacy Policy and applicable participant materials.

Google API Limited Use disclosure

FIT WITH US’s use and transfer to any other application of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

FIT WITH US does not use Google Health data for advertising. We do not sell Google Health data, use it to determine creditworthiness, provide it to data brokers or information resellers, or use it to train generalized artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models.

Disconnecting Google Health

You may revoke FIT WITH US access through the security or connected-app settings of your Google account. You may also contact the FIT WITH US team to request that your Google Health connection be disconnected.

Revoking access prevents FIT WITH US from retrieving new Google Health data. Revocation does not necessarily delete information already incorporated into authorized research records. Retention of previously collected research information may be required by the applicable research protocol, informed-consent document, institutional policy, or law.

4. Fitbit Information and Migration to Google Health

FIT WITH US has historically used Fitbit authorization and the Fitbit Web API to retrieve participant activity information. As Fitbit services transition to Google Health, some participants may be asked to reconnect their accounts using Google OAuth.

During this transition, FIT WITH US may retain previously collected Fitbit activity records and identifiers as necessary to:

  • Maintain continuity of participant activity history;

  • Associate new Google Health activity with the correct FIT WITH US participant;

  • Avoid duplicate activity records;

  • Support approved research and program functions; and

  • Meet applicable research, institutional, and legal retention requirements.

FIT WITH US limits each integration to the permissions needed to provide its disclosed activity-tracking features.

5. How We Use Information

FIT WITH US may use collected information to:

  • Create, authenticate, and manage participant accounts;

  • Operate the FIT WITH US website and participant application;

  • Provide activity tracking, dashboard, progress, coaching, and research features;

  • Synchronize authorized activity data;

  • Administer approved research or health programs;

  • Communicate with participants;

  • Provide technical and participant support;

  • Maintain data quality and prevent duplicate records;

  • Diagnose errors and maintain system availability;

  • Protect accounts, participants, systems, and data;

  • Detect misuse, fraud, or security incidents;

  • Meet institutional, research, contractual, and legal obligations; and

  • Evaluate program participation and outcomes as permitted by the applicable research protocol and participant consent.

FIT WITH US will not use Google user data for a purpose materially different from the purposes described in this Privacy Policy without providing appropriate notice and obtaining any consent required by applicable policy or law.

6. How We Share or Disclose Information

FIT WITH US does not sell personal information or Google Health data.

Information may be accessed or disclosed in the following limited circumstances.

Authorized FIT WITH US and UAB personnel

Information may be available to authorized researchers, health coaches, study personnel, administrators, technical personnel, or other UAB personnel who need access to perform approved responsibilities.

Service providers

We may use service providers to host, secure, maintain, monitor, communicate through, or otherwise operate FIT WITH US. These providers may process information only as needed to perform services on our behalf and subject to applicable contractual, institutional, confidentiality, and security requirements.

Research disclosures

Research information may be used or disclosed as described in the applicable research protocol, informed-consent document, authorization, or institutional approval. Research findings may be reported in an aggregated or de-identified form that is not intended to identify individual participants.

Legal, safety, and institutional obligations

We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to:

  • Comply with applicable law, regulation, court order, or legal process;

  • Satisfy research oversight, auditing, or institutional requirements;

  • Protect the rights, safety, and security of participants, personnel, FIT WITH US, UAB, or others;

  • Investigate misuse or security incidents; or

  • Enforce applicable agreements and policies.

With your direction or consent

We may disclose information when you direct us to do so or provide appropriate consent.

FIT WITH US does not transfer Google Health data for targeted advertising, personalized advertising, retargeting, lending, creditworthiness determinations, sale to data brokers, sale to information resellers, or training generalized AI or machine-learning models.

7. Data Storage and Protection

FIT WITH US uses administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal and sensitive information. These safeguards include, as appropriate:

  • Encrypted HTTPS connections for data transmitted between browsers, applications, APIs, and backend services;

  • Authentication and account-access controls;

  • Role-based or restricted administrative access;

  • Server-side handling of OAuth client secrets and tokens;

  • Separation of public application functions from protected backend credentials;

  • Logging and monitoring for operational and security purposes;

  • Restricted access for personnel based on their responsibilities;

  • System maintenance and security updates; and

  • Institutional and research data-handling procedures.

Google OAuth access tokens and refresh tokens are processed and stored on protected backend systems and are not intentionally exposed to the participant’s browser or included in participant-facing dashboard data.

No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. Although FIT WITH US uses safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information, absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

8. Data Retention

FIT WITH US retains information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including:

  • Operating participant accounts and connected services;

  • Providing research and health-program functions;

  • Maintaining the integrity and continuity of study records;

  • Meeting institutional, research, contractual, auditing, and legal obligations;

  • Resolving disputes;

  • Responding to participant requests; and

  • Protecting system security.

OAuth authorization information is retained while necessary to maintain the participant’s requested connection. When a connection is revoked or no longer required, FIT WITH US will stop using it to retrieve new data and will delete or disable authorization credentials in accordance with applicable operational, institutional, and legal requirements.

Research records, including information previously synchronized from Fitbit or Google Health, may be retained for the period required by the applicable study protocol, informed-consent document, sponsor requirements, UAB policy, or law. A request to delete an account may therefore not require deletion of information that must remain in an authorized research record.

For information about the retention requirements applicable to a particular study, contact the study team using the information below.

9. Your Choices and Rights

Depending on your relationship with FIT WITH US and applicable law or research requirements, you may be able to:

  • Review or update certain account information;

  • Choose whether to connect Google Health;

  • Decline an optional Google Health connection;

  • Revoke Google Health access through your Google account;

  • Request that FIT WITH US disconnect a connected service;

  • Request access to certain personal information;

  • Request correction of inaccurate information;

  • Request deletion of information that FIT WITH US is not required or authorized to retain; and

  • Ask questions about how your information is used.

Choosing not to connect Google Health may prevent automatic activity synchronization but does not authorize FIT WITH US to access Google Health data without your permission. Alternative participation arrangements, if available, are determined by the applicable study or program.

Requests may be subject to identity verification and to applicable research, institutional, legal, security, and record-retention requirements.

To make a privacy request, contact fitwithus@uab.edu.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

FIT WITH US may use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies that are necessary to:

  • Maintain secure login sessions;

  • Remember basic preferences;

  • Operate website and application features;

  • Prevent fraud and unauthorized access;

  • Diagnose technical problems; and

  • Understand basic application performance and usage.

FIT WITH US does not use Google Health data for targeted or personalized advertising.

Browser settings may allow you to block or delete cookies. Blocking cookies required for authentication or security may prevent portions of FIT WITH US from functioning correctly.

11. Third-Party Services and Links

FIT WITH US may link to or integrate with services operated by third parties, including Google and Fitbit. Those services operate under their own terms and privacy policies.

When you use Google OAuth, information you provide directly to Google and Google’s handling of your Google account are governed by Google’s policies. This Privacy Policy governs FIT WITH US’s handling of information received through the authorized integration.

Links to third-party websites do not mean that FIT WITH US controls or is responsible for those websites’ privacy or security practices.

12. Research Participation

Participation in FIT WITH US research activities is governed by the applicable study materials, eligibility requirements, informed-consent process, and institutional approvals.

This Privacy Policy does not replace an informed-consent document, authorization form, or participant notice. If you have questions about your participation, withdrawal, research records, or study-specific rights, contact the study team:

FIT WITH US Study Team

Email: fitwithus@uab.edu

Withdrawing from a study or disconnecting Google Health may stop future collection, but information already collected may continue to be retained and used as permitted by the informed-consent document, approved research protocol, institutional requirements, and applicable law.

13. Children and Participant Eligibility

FIT WITH US is intended only for individuals who meet the eligibility requirements of the applicable research study or health program. Where consent or permission from a parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative is required, FIT WITH US will rely on the applicable study enrollment and consent process.

Individuals who are not enrolled or otherwise authorized should not create or use a participant account.

14. Privacy Policy Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to FIT WITH US, research activities, connected services, security practices, or legal and policy requirements.

When material changes are made, we will update the effective date and provide additional notice or request renewed consent when required. Continued use of FIT WITH US after an update is subject to applicable participant notices, consent requirements, and law.

15. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, Google Health data, connected services, or privacy requests, contact:

FIT WITH US / RERC RecTech
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Email: fitwithus@uab.edu
Address: 701 19th St S, Birmingham, AL 35233

 

This study is conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by RERC RecTech. Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Grant #90REGE0019.

This study is conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by RERC RecTech. Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Grant #90REGE0019.

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