Belgian soldiers' identities exposed through Strava activity logs at military sites

A significant number of Belgian military personnel logged their exercise routines on the Strava platform while stationed at highly protected sites such as the Defence Ministry’s Brussels centre, the Kleine-Brogel and Florennes air bases, the Zeebrugge naval support hub, and NATO headquarters in Brussels and SHAPE in Mons. Publicly accessible Strava profiles disclosed full names, profile pictures and biographical details for many of these soldiers, enabling external parties to trace their movements.

Strava’s mapping features generate route segments that rank performance, and such segments have been identified within the boundaries of these secure installations. Although the Belgian defence ministry introduced stricter rules on personal smartphone use in 2018, earlier recorded data remains exposed. The issue mirrors prior security debates in the United States and Israel regarding the same application.