I use Strava to map my runs & cycle rides but a recent article caught my attention on the importance of keeping your data private vs public.
Last November, Strava released a global user-activity heat map showing the running and cycling routes of people wearing fitness trackers. Some of those people work for the military & intelligence agencies.
Their data, which they neglected to opt out of sharing, reveals their daily routines and the contours of previously secret bases for anyone with a Strava account who might be looking. “A modern equivalent of the World War II-era warning that ‘loose lips sink ships,’ writes Jeremy Hsu, “May be ‘FFS don’t share your Fitbit data on duty.’”
So far, the breach hasn’t hurt anyone, and militaries and intelligence services will update their facilities (and personnel training policies) to render this particular vulnerability moot. But the unexpected risks of modern geolocation technology remain. “These digital footprints that echo the real-life steps underscore a greater challenge to governments and ordinary citizens alike,” Hsu writes. “Each person’s connection to online services and personal devices makes it increasingly difficult to keep secrets.”
Read the full article here
https://www.wired.com/story/strava-heat-map-military-bases-fitness-trackers-privacy/
Data Pulses storytelling 