Connect data is not mine

I noticed today that there are events in my account that are not mine?! The data comes from the same city that I live in but spans a time when I didn't live here. Also, the watch that collected the data is a model I previously owned. How can this happen and can the other person's data be removed from my account?

  • How can this happen and can the other person's data be removed from my account?

    It can happen, and it does happen when you purchase a used device and start using it without resetting the watch to factory defaults with deleting all data. That should be always the first thing to do when buying a used device. And equally you should always do it when you are selling your old watch. Apparently the previous owner did not care about exposing the data to others.

    You can delete individual activities, but if there is also some metrics and totals already imported to your Garmin Connect account from the watch, then the easiest way would be creating a new account and starting anew. After doing the master reset first, of course.

  • Yes, I bought it used but the data coming in is during the time I had possession. Also strange, the data is in the same city as me? I did reset it and retired it in my account. There's only about 10-ish activities that are not mine. I'll just delete them I guess.

  • I did reset it and retired it in my account.

    Retired in your account? Why? Don't you want to use it anymore? It should have been retired in the account of the original owner. If the original owner is living in your proximity and did not remove the watch from his Garmin Connect, this phone may continue syncing some data back to your watch, when his phone is in the BT range of your watch.

    You can also verify whether the activity was recorded with the watch you own, or whether it is coming from a different device. The device model is shown on the screen of the activity, and you can also read the S/N of the watch in Garmin Connect Web. Though, you'd need to use the DevTools for that. If you post a link to one of these activities, I can tell you the S/N of the watch that recorded it, and you can then compare it to yours.

  • The Forerunner I owned had a SN 5UH425284 The activity not mine is connect.garmin.com/.../13576210063

  • Ah, OK, I misunderstood (reading too fast). It is you who sold or gave the device to someone else. Originally, I thought it was the opposite case. This below is the device info, It actually does not contain the S/N, rather just the device ID which differs from the S/N, so I'd have to see one of your own activities with the old watch to see whether these activities come from your original old watch.

  • So, to correct what I wrote previously, for me, the most probable explanation would be that you did not remove the watch from Garmin Connect before getting rid of it, and that the new owner comes with the watch up and then close enough to your phone, and it then syncs its data to your Garmin Connect account. To avoid that, remove the old watch completely from your account (not just "retiring" it)

  • OK, there's no easy way to identify the erronous data so I'll go through them one by one and delete them. I found the start date and they are all labled the same way so it shouldn't take long to do by hand :P