Some of the world’s most prominent leaders’ movements were tracked online through a fitness app used by their bodyguards, an investigation has suggested
A report by French newspaper Le Monde said several US Secret Service agents use the Strava fitness app, which has revealed highly confidential movements of US president Joe Biden, presidential rivals Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and other world leaders.
The investigation also identified Strava users among the security personnel for French president Emmanuel Macron and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Strava is a popular app among runners and cyclists, that enables users to log and share their physical activities within a community.
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In another example, Le Monde used an agent’s Strava profile to reveal the location of a hotel where Biden stayed in San Francisco for high-stakes talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2023. A few hours before Biden’s arrival, the agent went jogging from the hotel and used Strava to trace his route.
In a statement to the newspaper, the Secret Service said its staff aren’t allowed to use personal electronic devices while on duty during protective assignments but “we do not prohibit an employee’s personal use of social media off-duty.”
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In 2018 this was shown to be a problem, you would have thought they would have fixed it by now:
Fitness app Polar even better at revealing secrets than Strava and Garmin
Heat Map Released by Fitness Tracker Reveals Location of Secret Military Bases
Robin Edgar
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