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3 weeks ago
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SOME of the world’s most prominent names, including Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, have had their top-secret movements traced via a fitness app.
Private trips and hotel stays were tracked down via Strava as a bombshell investigation revealed the bodyguards of some world leaders use the app.
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AFP
GettyAn investigation by the French newspaper Le Monde claims numerous agents use the Strava fitness app, revealing the extremely confidential movements of world leaders.
Stava is a popular app among fitness fanatics that enjoy keeping track of their runs and cycle rides.
The app enables users to log and share the physical activities with friends, family, or anyone – depending on privacy settings.
The security of Biden and presidential rivals Trump and Kamala Harris have been stung by the report, as well as the French president Emmanuel Macron‘s team – and Putin’s too.
Le Monde were able to track the Strava activity of Macron’s bodyguards, as one example, revealing the French president had a weekend away in a Normandy seaside resort in 2021.
This was a private trip that was not publicly disclosed in his official schedule.
Meanwhile the locations of former first lady Melania Trump and the US president’s wife Jill Biden were able to be identified by monitoring the Strava profiles of their security.
But the US Secret Service have suggested it’s not phased by the claims, telling the newspaper it didn’t believe the protection it provides was compromised in any way.
Le Monde also were able to access an agent’s Strava profile to reveal the hotel where Biden was residing in San Francisco for tense talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2023.
The newspaper was able to see that the agent went jogging from the hotel, using Strava to track his route, a mere few hours before Biden’s arrival.
A shocking 26 US agents were identified, as well as 12 members of France‘s Security Group of the Presidency of the Republic and six members of Russia‘s Federal Protection Service.
They had public accounts and were sharing their movements online – even when on professional trips, the newspaper claims.
In a statement to Le Monde, the US Secret Service said its staff aren’t allowed to use personal electronic devices while on duty during protective assignments.
Despite this, it said that “employee’s personal use of social media off-duty” is not prohibited.
It added: “Affected personnel [have] been notified.
“We will review this information to determine if any additional training or guidance is required.
“We do not assess that there were any impacts to protective operations or threats to any protectees.”
Macron’s office had a similar response, suggesting the consequences of the issues reported by Le Monde “are very slight and in no way affect the security of the president”.
Getty
AFP or licensorsThe statement said “the risk is non-existent” as local authorities are aware of the French president’s movements ahead of time and the places he stays are always fully secure.
Macron’s office added: “A reminder was nevertheless issued to agents by the chief of staff asking them not to use this app.”
Le Monde did not identify the bodyguards by name for security reasons.
Now experts say security risks associated with fitness apps show the need for better regulations on how tech companies can use our consumer data.
Research done by Ibrahim Baggili, a computer scientist and professor of cybersecurity at Louisiana State University, has exposed how bad actors could use fitness app data to track potential victims.
This could create risks for stalking and robbery, among other serious crimes.
Prof Baggili said: “Consumers often grant app developers the right to use or sell their data when they agree to the terms of service.
“Companies love our data, and we love the product, so we give away the data for free.
“The government really needs to start cracking down on how data can be used and how long it can be retained.”
Identifying the presidential bodyguards some of them using their full name on Strava could also help in finding other details about them.
These could include personal addresses, their families, their movements, and their photos on social media – all of which could possibly be used to put pressure on them for malicious purposes, the report stressed.
A Strava spokesperson told The Sun: “Strava enables people to understand, visualize, and share their physical activity in the real world.
“As a result, we treat privacy settings with care throughout our entire experience; location data is used only with explicit opt-in, is prominently displayed in each Strava activity, and can be easily modified in a user’s settings.
“Underscoring our commitment in this space, in just the last year, we have launched five additional privacy features and improvements.
“While our platform is built for everyone, we expect people working in sensitive professions to leverage the controls available to them and appropriately limit their content.”
Strava
English (US)