Lawsuit Over Fitbit Accuracy Can Move Forward, Judge Rules

Your Fitbit's accuracy is one step closer to being argued in court.

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against the wearable tech maker can move forward, despite Fitbit's attempts to get the lawsuit tossed. The lawsuit says that the sleep tracker may overestimate sleep times by as many as 67 minutes per night.

The lawsuit cites a 2012 study in the "Sleep Health" journal. Fitbit presented other studies that showed otherwise, arguing that the lawsuit's study was based on bad science.

U.S. District Judge James Donato said that people shouldn't have to sift through scientific studies to decide whether their tech works or not.

"Even if Fitbit’s studies might validate the use of accelerometers for sleep monitoring, plaintiffs’ claims arise out of Fitbit’s representations on product packaging and similar sources," Donato wrote. "Consumers are not expected to do research 'beyond misleading representations on the front of the box.'"

In a statement to Patch, a Fitbit spokesman said the claims "have no merit."

"These studies demonstrate that Fitbit trackers do track sleep," the statement said. "Fitbit trackers are not intended to be scientific or medical devices, but are designed to provide meaningful data to our users to help them reach their health and fitness goals. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously and demonstrate that plaintiffs’ case has no merit.”

Fitbit has until July 29 to respond. Read Donato's order here.

Fitbit is also facing a separate lawsuit over its heart rate monitors. That suit says that the tracker's heart rate monitors are off by up to 20 beats per minute.

READ MORE: Fitbit's Heart Rate Monitors Are Off By Up To 20 BPM: Lawsuit