Strava

Strava is an American internet service for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features. It is mostly used for cycling and running using Global Positioning System data. Strava uses a freemium model with some features only available in the paid subscription plan. The service was founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath and is based in San Francisco, California.

Overview

Strava records data for a user's activities, which can then be shared with the user's followers or shared publicly. If an activity is shared publicly, Strava automatically groups activities that occur at the same time and place (such as taking part in a marathon, sportive or group ride). An activity's recorded information may include a route summary, elevation (net and unidirectional), speed (average, minimum, maximum), timing (total and moving time), power and heart rate. Activities can be recorded using the mobile app or from devices manufactured by third parties like Garmin, Google Fit, Suunto, and Wahoo. Activities can also be entered manually via the Strava website.

Strava Metro, a program marketed towards city planners, uses cycling data from Strava users in supported cities and regions.

In March 2022, Strava stopped operating in Russia and Belarus because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In May 2022, Strava announced the company had acquired injury prevention app Recover Athletics. Strava included the services and breadth of injury prevention resources in the form of Recover Athletics content in their Subscription package, including personalised prehab and injury prevention exercise plans.

Features and tools

Strava incorporates social media features which allow users to post their exercises to followers. Alongside a GPS map of their exercise users can also post pictures and videos. Followers can then comment on posts and give 'kudos' in the form of a like button.

Beacon is a feature that allows Strava users to share their location real time with anyone they choose to, and nominate others as a safety contact for their workout.

Users can also enter virtual exercise events on the platform.

Subscription users now have access to Recover Athletics personalised rehab and injury prevention exercise plans.

Privacy concerns

In November 2017, Strava published a "Global Heatmap"—a "visualization of two years of trailing data from Strava's global network of athletes." In January 2018, an Australian National University student studying international security discovered that this map had mapped military bases, including known U.S. bases in Syria, and forward operating bases in Afghanistan, and HMNB Clyde—a Royal Navy base that contains the United Kingdom's nuclear arsenal. The findings led to continued scrutiny over privacy issues associated with fitness services and other location-aware applications; Strava's CEO James Quarles stated that the company was "committed to working with military and government officials" on the issue, and would be reviewing its features and simplifying its privacy settings. Although users can now opt out of having their data aggregated on the global heatmap, the original data that contains sensitive information has been archived on GitHub.

A separate security flaw was reported in June 2022 that allowed the identification and tracking of security personnel working at military bases in Israel. Distinct from the previous heatmap issue, this vulnerability relied on Strava's segments feature.

References

External links

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Strava Heatmap

{{Sports-tracking-apps

GPS sports tracking applications
Mobile software
Companies based in San Francisco
Fitness apps
Proprietary cross-platform software
2009 software
American companies established in 2009
2009 establishments in California