STRAVA – Media Idiocy around Heatmap
OK. I’m just about to fall in the trap of calling lots of other people ‘idiots’ and then go and do precisely the same thing myself.
The story goes that the likes of STRAVA (and others) who have HEATMAPs of user activity as part of their online sports data platforms, are responsible for showing the locations of (well-known) military bases all over the world. Or, more specifically, they show the places where many military personnel (and others) exercise whilst on these bases.
Then I tried to find the Russian military base near Sokhumi. I expected a flash of golden, super-fit Russian soldier heat trails. I couldn’t even find the military base…on Google Maps or STRAVA.
STRAVA’s CEO then issued a statement which included:
We are committed to working with military and government officials to address potentially sensitive data. We are reviewing features that were originally designed for athlete motivation and inspiration to ensure they cannot be compromised by people with bad intent. We continue to increase awareness of our privacy and safety tools.
That sounds like they aren’t going to do much about it. Call me a cynic.
Summary
- Military and other personnel at military bases, out of naivety, kept their STRAVA profiles public. This is clearly NOT their fault.
- This anonymised data can be seen aggregated, visually as trails on a map. Especially by terrorists and enemy agents who had previously never even considered looking at the aforesaid military establishments…until now.
- This IS really sensitive data. Really sensitive.
- So just about every western media outlet has publicised it, hence jeopardising their own national and personal security all in the hope of a good story.
- Either that’s stupid. Or it isn’t a good story. Hint: It isn’t a good story.
- The Russians tentatively appear to have been much less guilty of the same irrelevant naivety.
- Summary: It’s clearly STRAVA’s fault because no-one took advantage of the pre-existing security features. Really?
On the flip side, STRAVA have probably significantly increased their number of PREMIUM members over the last week. Essentially terrorists and journalists both signing up to view the heat maps.
Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
not sure about the “naivety” and particular the russian counterpart, might be GPS watches able to upload to Strava or/and phones with strava app are nto so common in Russian military or elsewhere outside the US/Euro as core market … also interesting question (that news didn’t ask yet) how much of the fancy looking heatmap data is interpolated by Strava’s own algorithm… there are in my own neighborhood clearly areas marked with bright colors that nobody runs there as it’s a highway tunnel under water blocked for pedestrians or bicycles … probably Strava takes the start and the endpoints of these tracks and interpolate the middle section by their own …
edit: Moscow | Strava
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Movescount Cycling
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In all the coverage I feel I want to mention the positive safety aspect of the global heatmap, which is being forgotten in all of this. Runners and cyclists from across the world can use it to find safe, and enjoyable rides and runs based on essentially globally published knowledge of locals. This means travellers are on safe roads rather than risking not knowing where is good or safe. This shouldn’t be forgotten in all of this.
Indeed so.