Look after! Thieves know via Strava where you live and if you are at home

A criminal has been able to break into someone’s home undisturbed by using Strava. A public profile of a cyclist allowed him to see where the victim lived and where he was. Is there anything that can be done about this?

Strava

Strava is an app that is used by many runners and cyclists, and that is not surprising. Strava can turn your smartphone into a kind of cycling and running computer. With the app you can keep track of your performance data and have it synchronized with, among other things, your smartphone and most smartwatches. You can then view your data and optionally share it with friends or followers in your Strava feed. In addition, you can view the routes, by means of GPS tracking, that you have cycled and/or walked and share these, and your results on this route, again.

Strava and its potential privacy issues

Super cool you would think, but there are also a number of dangers attached to it. Besides the fact that some cyclists use Strava for their own ‘cycling world championship on a busy road’, malicious parties can find out your data via the app. The Flemish news website HLN writes about the latter. A thief could break into someone’s home because he could find his victim’s residence through Strava. In addition, the criminal also saw that the man he broke into was happily cycling. So he could go about his business undisturbed.

The cyclist comes from picturesque Deerlijk and no fewer than three bicycles have been stolen from his garage. One reason this could have happened is probably his public profile on Strava. This was because it was to be where he lived and where he was at that time. The criminal could see that he was cycling, and saw his chance to break in.

What can you do?

First, there are no specific figures on the number of ‘Strava thefts’. Vias, a traffic institute in Belgium, does report the following in HLN: ”We recognize the problem. So first ask yourself: do you think it is absolutely necessary to use an app for sports?” If this is the case for you, the institute will come up with the following tip: ”Only share your data with the contacts you know. So make sure you know who your followers are.”

In addition to this tip, you can also choose not to use your full, or real, name in Strava. In addition, you can set via Strava that the start and end point of your route is hidden. As a result, people cannot find them exactly. Finally, you can also choose to share your data with only certain people. This allows you to set that only friends can view your data.

Do you use Strava and do you also have some tips to share your data safely? Let us know in the comments below this article.

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