Useability without Dashboard and Data security (EU)

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Stefan

• March 11, 2023 11:17
• Edited

Dear all,

 

I am very interested in buying a Karoo 2 as I like the basic concept and the features it offers. Also I need a bigger screen compared to my Edge 830.

 

I just have two basic concerns where I haven´t found definitive answers too in the forum here (probably I missed it). Maybe you can help me with these here. Also please excuse my not perfect English.

 

1st question - Usability WITHOUT Dashboard:

I know that the Dashboard is great and offers good usability. But what is when the Dashboard is down for some reason or (I hope not) the Hammerhead company goes insolvent or decides to not support a product anymore? Is it possible to use the device standalone and transfer routes by cable or will the device then basically be bricked (or just able to record without using or updating routes)? I only found an article showing how to download .fit files with ride data manually. But is it possible to transfer .gpx files as routes to the device by cable?

I like to use my devices rather long time and not buy something new every two years, so that question is quite important to me. It happens to quite a few IOT Startups to go bancrupt and leaving customers with bricked and unuseable devices.

2nd question - Data security:

Where are the Hammerhead servers located and what user data is collected? Is user data from European cyclists stored on European servers and/or is everything in accordance to the EU-US privacy shield framework? 

I always try to be very careful with personal data (I know, I should not use online fitness services in general then).

 

Maybe someone from the Hammerhead team can answer here!

 

Greetings,

Stefan

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  Jason Mart

  • March 21, 2023 09:00

  Valid questions, ones that HH should be able to easily answer...

  But while you wait for the official response from them, the Karoo needs HH's dashboard/servers to upload routes. Without it, all you can do is manually download the completed activity/ride (via USB).

  Hammerhead use Amazon AWS for their hosting, it looks like they use the US east coast region.

  I'm not sure exactly what user detail and debug information HH collects behind the scenes. I'm sure they will collect more than just the uploaded FIT file data, would be interesting to find out.

   

   

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  Stefan

  • March 22, 2023 18:05
  • Edited

  Hi Jason,

   

  Thanks for your answer, good to see I am not the only one who cares about these topics.

  Looks like the Hammerhead is not for me than unfortunately, even when it looks like a nice little device with interesting features and a great screen. Would be great to have more freedom without beeing such a locked system.

  Having basic functionality without additional online services is essential for me. Appart from problems with a disfunctional Dashboard or no Internet connection for some reason, there is also always some danger that for example new functions will only belong to paying users with an abonnement etc.....Garmin is here clearly preferable as routes (gps), maps (OSM), POI etc can be simply transferred by cable. That is bullet and future proof without using Garmins connect plattform.

   

  Also Amazon AWS is a good first information. Have to take a closer look what information Hammerhead stores, Im sure there is something on the website.

   

  I dont think there will be an official reply after over 11 days now. But let's see.

   

  Greetings,

  Stefan

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