Halo: Amazon has shut down its Halo division, here’s why – Times of India

US-based e-commerce giant Amazon introduced the original Halo band in 2020. This fitness tracker also offered subscriptions to multiple health monitoring and analysis services from the company. Later on, Amazon expanded the Halo lineup with two more devices — Halo View and Halo Rise, which were a contactless sleep tracker and a smart alarm clock, respectively. The company has now shared a note with its Halo customers to announce its shutdown.
Amazon has confirmed that its Halo Health division will be shut down on July 31. These devices will stop functioning in August. Amazon also mentioned that the hardware will be recycled. On this note, the company also announced layoffs affecting the Halo divisions and also promised customers full refunds on hardware purchased over the past year.
What this means for Halo users
The refunds announced by the company are a sign of goodwill for customers. Amazon also acknowledges the fact that the hardware won’t be worth much when its associated services shut down. The company has also decided to end subscription fees on Halo devices and services. It will also offer refunds to customers who have already pre-paid for any such subscriptions.
In the letter shared with Halo users, the company said, “At Amazon, we think big, experiment, and invest in new ideas like Amazon Halo in our efforts to delight customers.”
Why Amazon is shutting down Halo
In January, the tech giant laid off 18,000 employees and last month it announced 9,000 more job cuts. These layoffs affected Amazon’s hardware divisions which inlcuded the company’s Alexa and Echo teams. Amazon seems to be shutting down its Halo division as part of its wider layoffs plans.

The company also doesn’t seem to have offered much warning before announcing its latest job cuts. Amazon said, “We notified impacted employees in the US and Canada today. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees. For employees who are impacted by this decision, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.”
Privacy concerns against Halo tracker
The original Halo tracker which was launched in 2020 also faced some privacy concerns. According to a report by TechCrunch, US Senator Amy Klobuchar shared her concerns about the issue.
Klobuchar said, “I really do think there’s got to be rules in place. The reason I’m writing HHS is because they should play a larger role in ensuring data privacy when it comes to health, but between the HHS and the Federal Trade Commission, they’ve got to come up with some rules to safeguard private health information. And I think the Amazon Halo is just the ultimate example of it, but there’s a number of other devices that have the same issues. I’m thinking there’s some state regulations going on and things like that, and we just need federal standards.”