Royal Navy personnel responsible for manning Britain’s nuclear submarines may have exposed sensitive data when using fitness apps.

According to reports from The Times, officers based at Faslane naval base, which houses the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent, could have leaked personal data such as names and addresses using the Strava fitness app.

Strava allows users to track times and routes during a run, cycle or swim and share results publicly. The app boasts more than 90 million users globally and can be linked to social media profiles.

According to The Times, personnel based at Faslane have previously uploaded data to the app, potentially exposing information on when they were on base. The report also claims that users may have inadvertently exposed data while participating in exercises on board the secretive vessels.

Notably, The Times said it was able to identify the names of personnel using the app by examining Strava’s ‘segments’ feature.

Users can create segments to highlight particular routes taken during a previous run or cycle. Once live on the app, it is possible for users to see who uses these routes.

Exposed

This incident isn’t the first time that military personnel have been exposed due to fitness apps.

In 2018, an investigation by Bellingcat revealed that US military personnel may have exposed data on sites in the Middle East.

Personnel using the ‘Polar Flow’ fitness tracker were found to have uploaded routes at a number of sensitive locations, including an airbase hosting thermonuclear weapons.

Other users appeared to be personnel based in Afghanistan and Syria, and at a separate location which stationed drones. Routes taken by personnel based in Afghanistan and Syria showed rough outlines of base perimeters, the investigation found.

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Strava does allow users to create ‘private’ profiles on the platform. However, the report warned that these profiles may still feature on route speed rankings, and users might be unaware.

A Royal Navy spokesperson told the Express: “We take the security of our team very seriously, which is why we regularly advise our personnel on the use of apps and social media websites.”

The spokesperson added that the service advises personnel to turn off geo-tagging on devices to “prevent their location from being revealed whilst exercising”.

“This includes turning off geo-tagging on devices to prevent their location from being revealed whilst exercising.”

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