Strava yesterday responded to claims that it accidentally revealed sensitive military positions by arguing that the information was already made public by the users who uploaded it.
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While the locations of military bases are generally known, there are concerns about the level of activity it reveals about personnel inside and around the bases. Data reflected on the map was not live, according to the Post.
The US is not alone in being exposed – Chinese joggers in the South China Sea contributed data to the Strava map, as did workers on Taiwan’s secret missile bases.
While the map doesn’t identify users, it details extensive information on the whereabouts and routines of soldiers and other military personnel.
The app monitors the soldiers’ activities, as well as their patrol routes, displaying both as possible running routes.
And while the locations of some of these bases are well known in war zones such as Syria and Iraq, many are also unknown.
However, the map goes dark across war zones – such as Syria and Iraq – except for tiny pinpricks of light apparently showing United States military personnel or global troops wearing the devices. Central Command has said they are looking into the matter.
Australian student Nathan Ruser. pointed out via Twitter the heat map easily identifies and maps US military bases, including remote areas of operation.
The location and activity of the millions of people who use Strava’s services are illuminated on the global map over a two-year period, from 2015 to September 2017. “It sort of lit up like a Christmas tree”.
Regardless of the data’s usability, the fact that it’s out there shows a lapse in protocol, one that likely has the potential to cost information and operation security personnel their jobs, Lafoy said. Privacy settings within the app are supposed to allow users to opt out of the tracking system.
Ruser started tweeting about his discovery, and soon so did data analysts, military experts, and former soldiers, combing the map for evidence of military activity.
Tobias Schneider, a German-based worldwide security analyst, told the Post that since the identity of the users in the map remain anonymous, some individuals could part of outside groups like aid agencies.
“W$3 hen you’re a woman whose personal and digital space is invaded with alarming regularity”, Spinks wrote, “you think carefully about how your digital life intersects with your real one-especially when the data you’re sharing is quite literally close to your front door”.
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Strava released a brief statement highlighting that the data used had been anonymised, and “excludes activities that have been marked as private and user-defined privacy zones”.
