If You’re Involved in a War, Maybe Don’t Constantly Broadcast GPS Readouts of Your Location to the World

A few years ago, it emerged that U.S. military personnel (as well as those of other nations) were unintentionally divulging state secrets by running.

They were using GPS watches connected to the fitness-tracking app Strava, which uploads a record of each activity after it is completed. Runners and cyclists on U.S. military bases who used the app created maps of their activities, which can be made private. But if you forget to do that, the entire world can see maps that reveal sensitive information about the location, parameters, and even interior of military bases. This compromised not only national security, but also the lives of the mapped personnel.

Earlier this week, a Russian soldier may have provided a perfect example of the latter. Stanislav Rzhitsky, a Russian submarine commander, was killed in a park that was a regular feature of his runs. He had uploaded these activities to Strava and kept his profile public. His death is still being investigated; it has not been confirmed yet who killed him or whether the killer scoured Strava for intel.

Running is a good thing, and good for you. But if you’re tied up in an ongoing war, it seems like a good idea to set your Strava to private; it’s not the app’s fault if you fail to realize what you are showing the world. If you’re extra paranoid, there’s nothing wrong with paper and pencil.