By Heather Hamilton, contributing writer
A fitness tracking company has been accidentally revealing the location of potentially secret military bases and spy outposts worldwide, weakening the U.S. military. The app, called Strava, allows users to track their activity via smartphone or fitness tracker and share it with others. The company reports that, right now, the map, released in November of last year, contains over 3 trillion GPS points and is designed to help users identify running routes in a variety of cities, be they popular or strange.
Nathan Ruser, a military analyst with the Institute for United Conflict Analysts, recently noticed that the map, which provides a fair amount of detail, also tracks active military users, who tend to exercise around active bases. “U.S. bases are clearly identifiable and mappable,” wrote Ruser on Twitter. “If soldiers use the app like normal people do, by turning on tracking when they go to do exercise, it could be especially dangerous.”
Tobias Schneider, another analyst, pointed out on Twitter that U.S. bases in Syria light up at night. “Some light markers over known Russian positions, no notable coloring for Iranian bases…A lot of people are going to have to sit through lectures come Monday morning.”
The Guardian points out that, in areas like Afghanistan, Djibouti, and Syria, Strava is used nearly exclusively by foreign military personnel — which means that bases become very distinct. On many, the bases are very clearly mapped out on the app, but not on applications like Google or Apple Maps. Even Area 51 is mapped out — a cyclist riding along the base of Groom Lake appears on a heat map.
Though the maps have been around since 2015, they currently contain six times more data, or 1 billion activities. Strava brags that their heat map is “the largest, richest, and most beautiful dataset of its kind. It is a direct visualization of Strava’s global network of athletes” — which might be true, but it might also be a security risk.
TheNew York Times reports that analysts have also been using Twitter to caution people about personal privacy violations, as individual users can be tracked if would-be stalkers cross-reference Strava data with other social media use. For members of the military, this could be particularly risky.
The Pentagon hasn’t spoken directly about whether or not the app had created security concerns, but spokeswoman Maj. Audricia Harris said that the Defense Department recommends that personnel limit public social media profiles. They’re currently reviewing the situation. The CIA has not issued a statement.
Strava said on Sunday that their privacy setting can exclude users from the map. “We are committed to helping people better understand our settings to give them control over what they share,” they wrote.
Sources: Strava, The Guardian, New York Times
Image Source: Strava
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