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How did no one working at Strava think about the implications of releasing this data? Zero scrutiny? I am sure there are some very interesting locations on ther

How did no one working at Strava think about the implications of releasing this data? Zero scrutiny? I am sure there are some very interesting locations on there... reading through the twitter thread it would seem so

snowpanda 9y ago
To be honest I'm more concerned personal devices were allowed at these locations. That and somebody posting it on Twitter instead of disclosing it responsibly to the parties involved. Sure it's not his fault, but he doesn't need to make it worse.
benoliver999 9y ago
They clearly have not thought about how easy it is to de-anonymise this data in areas with few trackers. Classic SV short sightedness.
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
You know what else is public , insecure information? Maps. Pictures. Roads. Physically going to a location and seeing a driveway. Yes, there is a bright line on Strava that leads from a spiderweb of trails in the park right to the door of my private, personal house! My neighbors don't run often, but I post on Strava 5 days a week, so my driveway stands out like a yellow arrow. You could learn, from the Strava dataset, that someone (me) lives in my house. Gasp! /s. Of course someone lives in my house. It is not news to anyone local. My address is on the map, and it's pretty obvious that someone lives here if you drive by and see it. What damage has Strava done by releasing this data? Humans that post on Strava are not hermits, trying to remain secret in their underground hideouts in the middle of nowhere. We live in houses, or on giant military bases...we're not exactly hidden.
- lstroud 9y ago
  I wonder if you can deduce the times of the runs from the data.
  - gruez 9y ago
    It's just a heatmap, there's no time dimension.
- logicallee 9y ago
  "I live in a [Blue/Red] state and it's no secret that I'm a [Democrat/Republican] - as is the majority of my state. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if the voting records of everyone were published. You could get the same information just by asking - which is exactly what exit polls do. Don't see the issue." There is something (seriously) wrong with the above thinking. I don't think I need to spell it out.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    Which information here is equivalent to a vote. Spell it out.
    - logicallee 9y ago
      Thanks for your polite response and query. I see you are a longstanding user here and you were quite specific in your question. - The answer is: it's the attitude itself which I consider equivalent. Here again is the poster (direct unmodified and representative quote): >Of course someone lives in my house. It is not news to anyone local. My address is on the map, and it's pretty obvious that someone lives here if you drive by and see it. Here is my pretend quote for comparison: >It's no secret that I'm a [Democrat/Republican] - You could get the same information just by asking. If you don't see how this is literally the exact same attitude then you kind of need me to come up with scenarios. Since you politely asked me to spell it out, what is your guess - what do I mean, why is it the same attitude exactly? I appreciate your tone with me and if you will do me the courtesy of guessing what I mean then I can correct you if that is not what I meant. What's your most charitable guess, why did I mean that it is the same attitude?
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        Voter rolls and (registered) party membership literally are published (some states charge for it) so in your example the actual vote is really the only thing on the line.
        9y ago
_Wintermute 9y ago
I don't see how it's Strava's fault. Surely if it's sensitive information then it's the military personnel who are at fault for uploading the data to a public website.
- orliesaurus 9y ago
  eh maybe send a newsletter to everyone registered to the service announcing it, then if people have complaints like "Hey I totally forgot I should have not done this..." / valid reason they can email and you can take their device id out of the megadump?
rorykoehler 9y ago
Why would they not release this data?

snowpanda 9y ago

To be honest I'm more concerned personal devices were allowed at these locations. That and somebody posting it on Twitter instead of disclosing it responsibly to the parties involved. Sure it's not his fault, but he doesn't need to make it worse.

benoliver999 9y ago

They clearly have not thought about how easy it is to de-anonymise this data in areas with few trackers. Classic SV short sightedness.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

You know what else is public , insecure information? Maps. Pictures. Roads. Physically going to a location and seeing a driveway. Yes, there is a bright line on Strava that leads from a spiderweb of trails in the park right to the door of my private, personal house! My neighbors don't run often, but I post on Strava 5 days a week, so my driveway stands out like a yellow arrow. You could learn, from the Strava dataset, that someone (me) lives in my house. Gasp! /s. Of course someone lives in my house. It is not news to anyone local. My address is on the map, and it's pretty obvious that someone lives here if you drive by and see it. What damage has Strava done by releasing this data? Humans that post on Strava are not hermits, trying to remain secret in their underground hideouts in the middle of nowhere. We live in houses, or on giant military bases...we're not exactly hidden.

lstroud 9y ago
I wonder if you can deduce the times of the runs from the data.
- gruez 9y ago
  It's just a heatmap, there's no time dimension.
logicallee 9y ago
"I live in a [Blue/Red] state and it's no secret that I'm a [Democrat/Republican] - as is the majority of my state. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if the voting records of everyone were published. You could get the same information just by asking - which is exactly what exit polls do. Don't see the issue." There is something (seriously) wrong with the above thinking. I don't think I need to spell it out.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Which information here is equivalent to a vote. Spell it out.
  - logicallee 9y ago
    Thanks for your polite response and query. I see you are a longstanding user here and you were quite specific in your question. - The answer is: it's the attitude itself which I consider equivalent. Here again is the poster (direct unmodified and representative quote): >Of course someone lives in my house. It is not news to anyone local. My address is on the map, and it's pretty obvious that someone lives here if you drive by and see it. Here is my pretend quote for comparison: >It's no secret that I'm a [Democrat/Republican] - You could get the same information just by asking. If you don't see how this is literally the exact same attitude then you kind of need me to come up with scenarios. Since you politely asked me to spell it out, what is your guess - what do I mean, why is it the same attitude exactly? I appreciate your tone with me and if you will do me the courtesy of guessing what I mean then I can correct you if that is not what I meant. What's your most charitable guess, why did I mean that it is the same attitude?
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      Voter rolls and (registered) party membership literally are published (some states charge for it) so in your example the actual vote is really the only thing on the line.
      - 9y ago

_Wintermute 9y ago

I don't see how it's Strava's fault. Surely if it's sensitive information then it's the military personnel who are at fault for uploading the data to a public website.

orliesaurus 9y ago
eh maybe send a newsletter to everyone registered to the service announcing it, then if people have complaints like "Hey I totally forgot I should have not done this..." / valid reason they can email and you can take their device id out of the megadump?

rorykoehler 9y ago

Why would they not release this data?