A young officer who recorded his physical activities on the public fitness app Strava accidentally exposed the exact location of a French aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. According to French outlet Le Monde, the location of Charles de Gaulle was exposed after the officer logged his workout on the public platform.
A picture of his Strava data shows the officer's laps on the warship's deck while the vessel was at sea. He used a smartwatch to track his performance, running more than seven kilometres in about 35 minutes.
The vessel's exact location was meant to remain confidential, even though its deployment to the region was a matter of public record. Earlier this month French President Emmanuel Macron, announced that the aircraft carrier and its escort were deployed to help protect France’s allies facing the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East.
Social media reacts:
An X user posted, “Someone’s getting fired.” Another joked, “Good pace from him though.” A third expressed, “A $4B aircraft carrier with 2,000 personnel, deployed in an active war zone, given away by one guy's jogging route. The weakest link in any military operation is never the hardware — it's the sailor who forgot to turn off location sharing.”
{{/usCountry}}An X user posted, “Someone’s getting fired.” Another joked, “Good pace from him though.” A third expressed, “A $4B aircraft carrier with 2,000 personnel, deployed in an active war zone, given away by one guy's jogging route. The weakest link in any military operation is never the hardware — it's the sailor who forgot to turn off location sharing.”
{{/usCountry}}An individual wrote, “If I had a nickel for every time sensitive military information has been exposed with Strava, I’d have 4 nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened 4 times.”
In 2017, a military analyst discovered that a Strava data visualisation map was detailed enough to expose highly sensitive information. The map inadvertently revealed the locations of secret US bases by displaying the workout routes of military personnel on active duty.
“If soldiers use the app like normal people do, by turning it on tracking when they go to do exercise, it could be especially dangerous,” Nathan Ruser, an analyst with the Institute for United Conflict Analysts, who first noticed the lap, told the media at that time.
What is Strava?
It is an app that “lets you track your running and riding with GPS, join Challenges, share photos from your activities, and follow friends.” According to the app’s official website, it is being used by over 195 million athletes in more than 185 countries.
Founded by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey in 2009, it can track over 50 different types of activities.
How does Strava work?
The app uses a user's mobile phone or GPS device to track their activities. It also provides detailed performance metrics, including segments for distance, elevation gain, and heart rate.