Can heatmaps on Strava reveal your home address? That is the question researchers at the North Carolina State University Raleigh decided to find out.
Evidently, the answer is yes. Yes, they can.
Strava, a fitness-tracking app with over 100 million users globally, is a popular tool for tracking outdoor fitness activities such as running and cycling.
Strava’s heatmap feature anonymously compiles the GPS data from users’ fitness activities to assist in the discovery of popular routes. Members of Strava can use these heatmaps to discover new trails and see how popular they are.
However, researchers discovered a workaround that may allow for the tracking and de-anonymization of users by merging publicly accessible heatmap data with unique user metadata.
How researchers uncovered home addresses
The research team took publicly available Strava heatmap data and, upon an image analysis, located starting and ending locations near specific homes. Then, when combined with OpenStreetMaps, individual residential addresses were identified.
Since public Strava profiles often contain timestamped activity data and distances, the researchers were able to determine potential routes and, thus, the home addresses of users.
When comparing the findings with voter registration data, researchers found that the addresses were correct approximately 37.5% of the time.
What you can do to prevent this
Based on the data, the research team suggested that individuals living in heavily populated areas are fairly safe due to the huge amount of Strava heatmap data that makes individual tracking nearly impossible.
Those who live in less populated areas may need to be more careful.
If you want to ensure your privacy, you can hide the start and finish of your activities within Strava. To do this:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap the cogwheel in the upper right-hand corner.
- Select “Privacy Controls” then “Edit Map Visibility.”
- Here, you can customize how near the start or end of an activity is hidden (up to a 1-mile radius).