Report: Fitness App Strava Reveals Locations of World Leaders
Facts
- The locations of French Pres. Emmanuel Macron, former US Pres. Donald Trump, and several of the world's most prominent leaders' movements can be tracked through Strava, a fitness app that their security personnel use, a report in the French outlet Le Monde has revealed.[1][2]
- When the app was launched by founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey in 2009, it was intended as a way for athletes and fitness hobbyists to track their activities and share their accomplishments. Several years and many millions of users later, the app is facing scrutiny.[3]
- In 2018, a year after Strava released an updated version of its heatmap feature, it was revealed that in places like Syria or Afghanistan — where the apps are used almost exclusively by military personnel — the maps highlighted the locations and layouts of a number of military bases.[4]
- According to the latest Le Monde report, the outlet reported that it could find the hotel where US Pres. Joe Biden had been staying during talks with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping in 2023 because a Secret Service agent had shared details of his run from the hotel hours earlier on Strava.[5]
- Le Monde identified 26 US agents, 12 French agents, and six Russian agents active on Strava. This allowed for the identification of the locations of Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, and several US presidents at certain points in time by tracking personnel assigned to protect them.[5][6]
- US and French officials downplayed the risks associated with the app. However, they said they will review their guidelines to see if any additional training or guidance is needed.[7][8]
Sources: [1]Le Monde.fr, [2]Independent, [3]The Fitness Network, [4]Guardian, [5]AP News, [6]The Week, [7]Daily Star and [8]Associated Press.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by AP News. This report has exposed how bad actors could use fitness app data to track potential victims. The security issues linked to Strava could not only endanger the lives of world leaders but put ordinary people at risk of crimes such as stalking and robbery.
- Narrative B, as provided by Engadget. It’s wrong to blame Strava, which has several privacy toggles that limit what data the public can see. This is negligence on the part of the security officials who failed to acknowledge the risks and chose not to use these privacy features.