Activity Trackers a Security Threat?

Alatariel75

Just read this article with interest:

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/australian-learns-how-strava-heat-map-reveals-dangerous-information-from-jogging-us-soldiers-20180128-h0pq5i.html

Thoughts?

crackpotbaby

It seems obvious to me that if you were involved in a covert military operation pehaps don’t wear a tracking device of any kind.

BecMarty14

I have some thoughts, but I'm sure fixing the issue is now the focus of a capable team.

Alatariel75

crackpotbaby wrote: »

It seems obvious to me that if you were involved in a covert military operation pehaps don’t wear a tracking device of any kind.

That was my first thought - Did it occur to no one to tell military personnel to activate the privacy options?

AnvilHead

I read the article, but at least part of it seemed inaccurate. It talked about giving away locations of patrols, perimeters, etc. while they were walking, and it seems to me that Strava should only show those locations if they were actually logging workouts in those locations - not just walking/normal activity while wearing their tracker.

I can definitely see OPSEC issues from them logging workouts on Strava (or other such sites), especially if they're in covert locales.

From a personal (non-military, even) point of view, I don't start/end tracked workouts at home even though I set all my workouts to 'private' so nobody else can see them.

_mr_b

The trackers aren’t a security threat, it’s the people using them that are!
This point is also misleading as it’s more about uploading GPS traces and you can do that from a phone.

Strava’s not a new thing, privacy settings on Strava is also not a new thing. People need to stop and think about what they are doing with their data and how it is managed rather than blindly uploading stuff and hoping that everything will be ok.

rckeeper22

Servicemembers using these devices should know better; it's an OPSEC threat, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a slide or two added to annual training - or, worst-case scenario, have these devices banned entirely on deployment.

Just like you don't post your whereabouts on Facebook, one would hope people would be smart enough not to upload their location via activity trackers. Obviously hope failed as a course of action in this case (as it usually does). I have no doubt it'll be taken care of relatively quickly, especially with this kind of publicity.