US reveals secret military base
The Australian student is a map enthusiast and regularly follows the war situation in Syria.
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| Strava global heatmap. |
According to CNN, the combination of these two factors helped Nathan Ruser, 20 years old, accidentally find a secret US military base, through Strava's health tracking application.
Last weekend, the Australian online community took a close look at a Strava heatmap image, which was posted in November 2017. Ruser was the one who looked closely at the image, especially the Syria and Sahara regions.
The 20-year-old was surprised to discover signs of a military base in a remote area of Syria. Heat maps showed that people wearing Strava devices were frequently walking around the base.
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| A US military base has appeared on Strava's map. |
Ruser, who is studying international security and Middle East studies at the Australian National University, said he noticed something unusual as soon as he looked at the heat map in the Syria region.
“I was surprised that the heat map had been around for months. It showed that Strava was collecting a lot of sensitive data without anyone noticing,” Ruser said.
Strava's fitness tracking app allows users to share their location and distance traveled via GPS, smartphones and other fitness tracking devices.
The app allows users to turn off sharing, but Ruser's findings suggest many people don't do so. Strava says it has about 10 million active users.
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| Australian student Nathan Ruser was the first to spot the anomaly. |
A lot of secret information about the location, number of soldiers, and detailed interior diagrams of a US military base has been revealed publicly. The reason is said to be because soldiers at this military base run with the Strava app.
The 20-year-old said he received special attention after discovering the anomaly. But he has not been contacted by Strava or US military officials.
US Department of Defense spokesman Rob Manning later spoke out on the issue: "We will review the department's policy to ensure operational security and protect military forces."
The US Department of Defense advised employees to set privacy settings on the app. “Similar apps are prohibited from use in certain areas of the Pentagon, during certain activities,” the spokesperson said.
