How to track a world leader? Their bodyguards’ fitness app may have clues

Curious about where your global leader might be at the moment?

You might find out through their bodyguard’s fitness app.

Recently, bodyguards of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson were accused of putting his safety at risk over a long period. They had been uploading their running and cycling routes to the fitness app Strava, unintentionally giving away sensitive information.

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Last year, a French newspaper found that it was possible to track the movements of then-US President Joe Biden, along with presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, simply by looking at the fitness apps used by their security teams.

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So, how did the Swedish Prime Minister’s security team end up revealing his location, routes and activities? And what exactly did last year’s report reveal?

Here’s a look:

What happened?

Simply put, the Swedish Prime Minister’s bodyguards accidentally gave away his location, and that of the royal family, several times by uploading their runs and bike rides to the fitness app Strava.

Notably, Strava is mainly used by runners and cyclists to log workouts and share them with others.

According to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, bodyguards uploaded their activity to the app at least 35 times, unintentionally revealing details connected to Ulf Kristersson.

These uploads reportedly showed Kristersson’s personal running routes and travel patterns, including an October 2024 family trip to Aland, an autonomous Finnish region.

The paper reviewed over 1,400 workout entries by seven bodyguards assigned to top government officials over the past year.

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Their activities were recorded in locations across the globe, from near Ukraine’s border in Poland to the seafront in Tel Aviv, ski resorts in the Alps, New York’s Central Park, military bases in Mali, and even an island in the Seychelles.

Patterns from these movements appeared to show how bodyguards operated around key locations like the government buildings in Stockholm and Harpsund, the Prime Minister’s countryside retreat in Sodermanland.

One recent run from Harpsund was reportedly shared just weeks ago.

In June 2024, during Kristersson’s visit to Norway’s Bodo for a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, one of the bodyguards is said to have posted a run on Strava.

Other sensitive information linked to public figures was also disclosed. The report mentioned details relating to the royal family, Social Democrat leader and former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, and Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson.

After these findings came to light, the relevant Strava profiles were either restricted or taken down.

The Swedish Security Service confirmed it was reviewing its internal procedures.

Carolina Bjornsdotter Paasikivi, who heads the security division of Sapo (Sweden’s security service), said, “We are taking action to ensure that protocols are followed.”

“I can’t go into internal measures, but steps are being taken to prevent this from happening again,” she was quoted as saying by Euractiv.

Not the first time

This is not the first time such an incident has taken place. And once again, it involves Strava.

Public profiles on the fitness app have been a security issue for forces around the world.

In 2023, a former Russian submarine commander was reportedly tracked and killed using details from his open Strava profile.

Back in 2017, Strava faced criticism for revealing the location and staffing details of military bases and intelligence outposts worldwide. The app had published a global heat map showing user activity, which unintentionally exposed these locations.

Meanwhile, French newspaper Le Monde published a report last year revealing how fitness apps used by security staff made it easy to follow world leaders’ movements online.

The paper found that US Secret Service agents had active Strava accounts, even in the weeks following two assassination attempts on Donald Trump.

Security teams for French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were also found using the app.

In one case, Le Monde traced the movements of Macron’s bodyguards on Strava, revealing that the French President had spent a weekend in the seaside town of Honfleur in Normandy in 2021, a trip that was meant to be private and was not mentioned on the official schedule.

The report said it was also possible to track the movements of Melania Trump and Jill Biden by following the fitness data of their security teams.

In another instance, the report said that a US Secret Service agent’s activity on Strava gave away the location of a hotel in San Francisco, where Joe Biden later stayed for key talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023.

Just hours before Biden arrived, the agent had gone for a jog from the hotel, with his route visible on the app.

According to the newspaper, their journalists were able to identify 26 US agents, 12 members of France’s presidential security group (GSPR), and six members of Russia’s Federal Protection Service (FSO), all responsible for guarding presidents.

These individuals had public profiles on Strava, unknowingly making their movements visible online, even during official trips.

With inputs from agencies