It turns out that not even a period of intensifying global conflict is enough to stop military officers from publicly logging and sharing their workouts.
A French navy sailor exposed the near-real-time location of the country’s flagship nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Le Monde reports.
On the morning of March 13, a sailor shared a seven-kilometer, 35-minute run on the popular fitness app Strava while at sea, likely aboard the Charles de Gaulle or one of the ships in its escort group.
The running route published on Strava showed the sailor running loops in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, northwest of Cyprus. The carrier’s presence in the region wasn’t exactly a secret. French President Emmanuel Macron ordered it on March 3 to move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean to help protect allied assets amid America’s growing war in the Middle East.
Le Monde was able to cross-reference the run with satellite images taken about an hour later, which showed the aircraft carrier roughly six kilometers from where the run was geolocated.
Surprisingly, this is not an isolated incident. It’s the latest example in what Le Monde has dubbed the “StravaLeaks.”
In its latest report, the outlet detailed how it was also able to track the same sailor earlier in February, first off the coast of France’s Cotentin Peninsula and later on land in Copenhagen. The publication also identified at least one other public Strava profile posting geolocated activities “revealing his ship’s position.” Other public profiles shared photos of ship decks, service members, and equipment aboard the vessels.
In 2024, the French outlet reported on Strava activity from security teams assigned to the presidents of the U.S., France, and Russia. In one instance, Le Monde was able to identify the hotel that former President Joe Biden stayed at during a trip to San Francisco in 2023.
This kind of leak has been happening for years. In 2018, the Pentagon banned deployed personnel from using geolocation features on both government and personal devices for apps like fitness trackers in designated operational areas.
France’s Ministry of Armed Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo. However, the French Armed Forces General Staff told Le Monde that sharing a run on Strava “does not comply with current guidelines.” They added that “digital hygiene for sailors” is part of the “prerequisites before any deployment,” and that “appropriate measures will be taken by the command.”
Strava, which is used by nearly 200 million people worldwide, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to its support page, the platform does offer settings that allow users to limit or hide their fitness activity from the public.
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