Fitness apps threaten personal safety and help the police. What you need to know

In recent years, several scandals have erupted involving threats to the security of world leaders due to the fitness applications of their guards. Of the latter, the movement of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was revealed. His location turned out to be available online due to the fault of security agents: while running, they launched the Strava application, which uses GPS data to track activity. How sports apps and other spyware compromise personal security is discussed in Izvestia.

Scandals with the Strava app

• Strava is a service for sports enthusiasts. The application tracks the user's physical activity, allows you to share your results, compare them with others, and communicate. The program uses GPS data from a mobile phone or a fitness wristband. Strava unites more than 120 million users from more than 190 countries.

• In early 2018, a major scandal broke out over the publication of a heat map with 3 million GPS user markers by the service. Using this map, you could find out, for example, about popular jogging routes in major cities. However, military analysts have noticed that the publication also reveals the location of a special category of military users. Since the application is mainly used by foreigners in Syria, Djibouti and Afghanistan, it was easy to calculate the location of US military installations in these countries on the Strava heat map. For example, Strava "highlighted" a base in the Afghan province of Helmand, although it is not shown on satellite images. After that, the Pentagon restricted the use of fitness trackers and apps for the military.

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And why do apps collect unnecessary user data?

• In 2024, the French media found out that the non-public movements of then-US President Joe Biden, as well as candidates for this position, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, could be easily tracked using their bodyguards' fitness application. U.S. Secret Service agents also used Strava after the attempted assassination of Trump. Users of the application were also found among the security staff of French President Emmanuel Macron. At that time, the Elysee Palace said they did not see any problems with this, but just in case they asked the agents not to use Strava.

• Already this year, about 1,400 activities of seven bodyguards who protected people in high positions in the country were discovered in a fitness application in Sweden. Secret Service employees shared details about their jogging and cycling routes in the program, and as a result, information about their clients' movements became publicly available. Thus, information about the hotels where Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stayed, as well as his place of residence, was made public. The leaks also affected the royal family, the leader of the Social Democrats and the former Prime Minister of the country, Magdalena Andersson.

The popularity of spyware is growing

• The risks associated with fitness applications point to the need for clearer regulation of how technology companies can work with user data, the international expert community is confident. The United States investigated this issue and found out that hackers can use fitness application data to spy on potential victims. This increases the threat of committing crimes.

• There are many applications and services that can be used for the same purposes. Some disguise themselves as "parental control," while others directly suggest "catching" a partner in infidelity. Programs can track location, capture messages, and record hidden videos.

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Although more than half of the citizens have used fitness bracelets in the last year, they are not ready to fully trust them.

• There are no statistics that would give an idea of the number of cases of electronic harassment. Victims may not be aware that they are being followed or may not report it. However, even if they are confident of surveillance, hidden software is quite difficult to detect.

• In 2017, there was a data leak in two companies that develop similar applications. More than 100 thousand user accounts have been added to the network. mSpy reported that it sold subscriptions to more than 27,000 users in the United States in the first quarter of 2018. And in 2016, a study was published in Australia that showed that 17% of victims of domestic violence were monitored via GPS (including through spyware).

• At the same time, there are regulatory difficulties in this area: you cannot monitor other people without their consent and listen to other people's conversations, but nothing prohibits installing an application in order to determine the location of a child's own phone or gadget.

• According to Gen Digital, from 2020 to 2023, the number of stalker programs (software that is installed on a device to monitor the actions of the owner without his knowledge) increased by 239% worldwide. At the same time, applications for "parental control" have become one of the most common forms of espionage.

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Young users are too willing to share personal data on social networks, which leads to cyberbullying.

• Experts recommend turning off geolocation on your smartphone. It is also worth bearing in mind that when a user marks his location somewhere, he may inadvertently provide information useful to the criminal. Experts also recommend paying attention to the battery charge: if the phone starts to sit down too quickly, then malware may be installed on the device. It can be difficult to detect it on your own — special antivirus programs will help you do this. As a last resort, reset the phone to factory settings and contact specialists.

How Fitness Trackers Help Solve Murders

• Fitness trackers have also been used by police officers to investigate crimes. In 2018, a court in the United States considered one of the first cases in history when data from various devices, including a fitness tracker, proved the innocence of a murder suspect. In 2016, a woman's body was found in a field — she died from beatings and suffocation. The main suspect was her roommate Doug Detry. The man was arrested, but it turned out that he was wearing a fitness tracker on the night of the murder. These programs fully confirmed Detry's innocence. Later, the police found another suspect who had a geolocation app on his phone. Thanks to the location data collected by the service, it was possible to determine that the man was in the same places as the victim.

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Attackers can offer virtual trainers and weight loss products.

• Also in 2018, the Fitbit fitness tracker helped solve the murder of a California woman. The device recorded the last beat of her heart — knowing the time and using recordings from surveillance cameras, the police determined that her stepfather was in the house at the time of the woman's death. He was later arrested.

When writing the material, Izvestia took into account the opinions of:

• Artem Geller, cybersecurity expert;
• cybersecurity expert Pavel Myasoedov.