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Google-owned Fitbit to pay $12.2 million after consumers were burned by smartwatches

Fitbit failed to report overheating incidents involving its Ionic watches in which customers suffered serious burns, safety regulator said.

Fitbit received numerous reports of the lithium-ion batteries in the watches overheating during 2018, 2019 and continuing into 2020, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In early 2020, Fitbit made an update to address the defect, but continued to hear from people suffering burns and did not report the issue to regulators as legally required. In addition to the $12.25 million civil penalty, the settlement agreement requires Fitbit to maintain internal controls and procedures to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act.

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