3 ms·

Stravas security breaches have remained off the radar. Private runs and maps are exposed . There have been cases of harassment, doxxing and assault via these br

Stravas security breaches have remained off the radar. Private runs and maps are exposed . There have been cases of harassment, doxxing and assault via these breaches. I finally quit Strava when I got an Apple Watch and they added friction to Apple health sync. As a paid subscriber it was received as deliberately hostile UX to pump daily engagement numbers They have a great network of amateur athletes but it's not worth the risk

folli 4y ago
I'm also looking in integrating Apple Health sync data into an app I'm currently working on. However, to be honest, Apple is also being a PITA. Pretty much every other fitness tracker (Garmin, Polar, Suunto) offers some kind of Web API to access and sync data. But of course Apple does not do that, you need to build some kind of app on iOS which the user needs to install on his/her device, which of course adds extra friction.
- tonymet 4y ago
  The industry is moving toward on-device APIs for privacy protection. that way the data can remain encrypted & private on the device and there's less risk of a breach. In Strava's case they already have the integration complete and the hostile UX is them forcing you to open the app and manually trigger the sync rather than running the sync as a listener or during background refresh . They could even add a "sync all" button but instead they force you to sync dozens of activities (my activities tend to be short + mixed). I recommend getting ready for on device for your app – all apps are heading toward on-device for data & even model training.
  - folli 4y ago
    I find that a bit hard to believe for the more established device makers (e.g. Garmin, Polar, Suunto). Their device is a watch, if I want to look at analytics, I will need to move the data off to the cloud, I don't want to look at graphs and maps on a half-inch watchface. Apple is a special case, because they offer a tightly closed ecosystem with watches, phones, laptops...
    - tonymet 4y ago
      the “device” for storing and analyzing data will be the paired phone.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - nradov 4y ago
    No, that's not actually where the fitness industry is moving at all. Rather the opposite.
nradov 4y ago
Do you have any evidence of private activities being exposed? Strava appears to have pretty extensive privacy features.
- iamacyborg 4y ago
  They do, now. That’s after a lot of negative press about their heatmaps revealing things best kept private and flyby’s being used to stalk people.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Participation in the heat map and flyby features has always been optional.
    - iamacyborg 4y ago
      They were opt-out until the bad press and many folks didn’t know they were being tracked in that way.

folli 4y ago

I'm also looking in integrating Apple Health sync data into an app I'm currently working on. However, to be honest, Apple is also being a PITA. Pretty much every other fitness tracker (Garmin, Polar, Suunto) offers some kind of Web API to access and sync data. But of course Apple does not do that, you need to build some kind of app on iOS which the user needs to install on his/her device, which of course adds extra friction.

tonymet 4y ago
The industry is moving toward on-device APIs for privacy protection. that way the data can remain encrypted & private on the device and there's less risk of a breach. In Strava's case they already have the integration complete and the hostile UX is them forcing you to open the app and manually trigger the sync rather than running the sync as a listener or during background refresh . They could even add a "sync all" button but instead they force you to sync dozens of activities (my activities tend to be short + mixed). I recommend getting ready for on device for your app – all apps are heading toward on-device for data & even model training.
- folli 4y ago
  I find that a bit hard to believe for the more established device makers (e.g. Garmin, Polar, Suunto). Their device is a watch, if I want to look at analytics, I will need to move the data off to the cloud, I don't want to look at graphs and maps on a half-inch watchface. Apple is a special case, because they offer a tightly closed ecosystem with watches, phones, laptops...
  - tonymet 4y ago
    the “device” for storing and analyzing data will be the paired phone.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- nradov 4y ago
  No, that's not actually where the fitness industry is moving at all. Rather the opposite.

nradov 4y ago

Do you have any evidence of private activities being exposed? Strava appears to have pretty extensive privacy features.

iamacyborg 4y ago
They do, now. That’s after a lot of negative press about their heatmaps revealing things best kept private and flyby’s being used to stalk people.
- nradov 4y ago
  Participation in the heat map and flyby features has always been optional.
  - iamacyborg 4y ago
    They were opt-out until the bad press and many folks didn’t know they were being tracked in that way.