Though this article is older (January 2018) I think it is poignant to our times as we move into a phase where contact tracing and involuntary logging of our location will become more prevalent. Above is a screenshot of a bike ride I did about a month ago. From that post, you can extrapolate quite a bit of information, like where I parked my vehicle (start and finish spot), what time I typically ride at (morning rides start around 8am) and how long I will probably be gone (moving time is an hour and a half but that doesn’t include breaks so could add 5-30 minutes). Again, as with most things on the internet, a person needs to weigh out the costs and benefits of what they are doing and what kind of a footprint they are leaving for others to see. I was quite shocked when I first read this article and saw the negative implications for the military of their troops using this app to track their fitness and just what information could be gotten from a posted fitness activity. Another reason this interested me was that strava is such a great tool for a PE teacher in this age of online learning. A teacher could get their class to each sign up for a free subscription and then all be linked together so that when something is assigned (5 kilometre run/walk) all the teacher needs to do to verify is check the students activities; plus the social media aspect allows the community to have activity challenges and virtually cheer each other on. But the virtual mapping of the students’ routes (and most people do tend to stick to routes they have done before) could have other, darker implications. Food for thought…
Super interesting read. Similar implications with other apps such as tik tok which were being used by military personnel and possibly tracked by authorities in adversary countries. Strava is an amazing tool, one which I use almost every day. However, it is definitly important to be cognizant of the dangers and risks.
PS gave you a follow on Strava. Kudos!
I was wondering who that was!! Ha ha!