Thousands of military personnel can be identified through the sports app Strava after logging activities since 2014 at sensitive Belgian and NATO sites, De Morgen reported on Thursday.
The newspaper said its analysis found around 4,000 service members who had recorded exercise on the grounds of high-security locations.
These include the Belgian Defence headquarters in Brussels, the air bases at Kleine-Brogel and Florennes, the naval base in Zeebrugge, NATO headquarters in Brussels and the alliance’s command centre, SHAPE, in Mons.
Related News
- The Belgian city churning out billion-dollar tech companies
- Tesla's self-driving mode showed many issue during tests in Brussels
- New EU-backed push seeks to revitalise industries and urban hubs in Wallonia
Among the personnel identified across the six sites examined by the daily, about two-thirds had public Strava profiles.
This means other users can access at least their first and last names, profile pictures and biographies. In many cases, places of residence, nationalities and the number of followers on their accounts are also visible.
The US-based app allows users to record and geolocate their sporting activities. It also offers route “segments”, which rank users against one another and are present within secured areas used by the Belgian military and Nato.
The Belgian Defence Ministry tightened its rules in 2018 on the use of personal smartphones by military personnel. Strava has previously been used by US, Israeli and other countries' servicemen around the world, sparking concerns over operational security.
