A naval officer from France undertook a jog upon the flight deck of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and shared his exercise data on Strava, unintentionally revealing the precise whereabouts of the nuclear-propelled warship as its journey led it towards the Middle East.
The tale, initially brought to light by the French publication Le Monde, highlights that this incident is not an isolated occurrence — this widely-used exercise monitoring application has previously demonstrated itself as a significant privacy concern.
Ordinarily, profiles on the social exercise application are configured for public viewing, thereby broadcasting your path whenever you record an activity. Information from Strava has, in the past, served to pinpoint military installations globally. During 2024, the publication Le Monde managed to ascertain the position of French President Emmanuel Macron by examining the Strava profiles belonging to his security detail, as they had shared their fitness activities publicly while on journeys alongside him.
Macron had openly declared the vessel’s assignment, consequently, its transit across the Mediterranean was already common knowledge. Yet, undeniably, the French military remains gravely endangered should a servicemember transmit its exact coordinates. A spokesperson for the French military conveyed to Le Monde that the servicemember’s conduct “is not in accordance with prevailing directives,” of which “naval personnel are frequently apprised.”
Before this piece was published, Strava offered no response to TechCrunch’s request for commentary, nonetheless, this should act as a universal admonition; irrespective of whether you belong to the military, it’s probably prudent to adjust your Strava account settings to private.
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