Using the Strava fitness app comes with an unexpected bonus—learning the movements of the world’s most powerful people.
The movements of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump can be easily tracked through the Secret Service agents using the fitness app. The news was first reported by Le Monde, a French newspaper.
Strava, which boasts more than 120 million users, allows runners to log and share their workouts. Le Monde found 26 Secret Service agents on the app sharing their movements while on the job. The outlet also determined the movements of First Lady Jill Biden, former First Lady Melania Trump, and bodyguards for French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Among its findings, Le Monde was able to determine where Biden was staying in San Francisco in November 2023 for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after an agent on his detail went for a jog and traced his route. Agents are not allowed to use personal devices while on duty, but they are not prohibited from using them off-duty, an agency spokesperson told Le Monde. In light of Le Monde’s findings, Macron’s office told agents to no longer use the app.
It’s not the first time a fitness app has led to private details being leaked or the Secret Service to come under fire for lax security measures. In 2018, Strava app users in the military were unwittingly giving away the location of secret U.S. Army bases because of the app’s data visualization map that shows all user activity. A fan of the show The Bachelor used the finance app Venmo in 2019 to discover the winner of the show’s latest season after finding the bachelor in question was regularly interacting with one of the contestants while the show had yet to finish airing.
The Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny since a bullet grazed Trump in an assassination attempt at a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania. An investigation found multiple failures with the agency for failing to protect the Republican nominee. The incident led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle. A second attempt on Trump’s life at one of his Florida golf courses in September revealed the agency is under strain and operating with fewer agents, a problem that won’t be rectified until after the election due to the lengthy hiring process it requires.
“Affected personnel have been notified,” the Secret Service told Le Monde in a statement. “We will review this information to determine if any additional training or guidance is required. We do not assess that there were any impacts to protective operations or threats to any protectees.”
