Can Strava Show Where You Live? What the Heatmap and StravaLeaks Revealed, and How to Hide Your Home

Last checked: Nov 2, 2026. Based on reporting by The Guardian, Associated Press, Le Monde, and Strava Support documentation.

When you upload a run to Strava, you're sharing a GPS trail. If that trail starts and ends at your home, and your activities are public, anyone can see where you live. This isn't hypothetical. In 2018, analysts used Strava's global heatmap to map secret military bases because soldiers were running laps inside restricted areas. In 2024, French newspaper Le Monde identified Secret Service agents protecting US presidents by their public Strava profiles, and tracked their runs to locations where Biden and Trump traveled before those trips were announced.

If you use Strava and your runs start at home, your address might be visible to strangers right now. Strava has privacy settings that can hide your home, but they're not automatic. This guide explains what the heatmap and StravaLeaks revealed, and the exact steps to hide your home address using Strava's Map Visibility settings.

#Watch: How Strava runs can show where you live

#What the Strava heatmap revealed in 2018

In November 2017, Strava released a global heatmap that showed every public activity uploaded to the platform, aggregated from more than 3 trillion individual GPS data points. The heatmap was supposed to be a visualization of where people exercise. In cities, it showed dense networks of running and cycling routes. But in remote areas, it revealed something else.

On January 27, 2018, Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Institute for United Conflict Analysts, tweeted that the heatmap made US military bases clearly identifiable. In Syria, known coalition bases "light up the night," as analyst Tobias Schneider noted. In Afghanistan, Djibouti, and Syria, the users seemed almost exclusively foreign military personnel.

The Guardian reported on January 28, 2018:

"Zooming in on one of the larger bases clearly reveals its internal layout, as mapped out by the tracked jogging routes of numerous soldiers. The base itself is not visible on the satellite views of commercial providers such as Google Maps or Apple's Maps."

Because the heatmap was aggregated, it didn't show individual names or runs. But the patterns were clear. Soldiers running laps inside a base created bright loops on the heatmap. In areas where almost no civilians were active, those loops stood out.

The Guardian's follow-up article on January 29, 2018, noted that individual service members could be identified if their Strava profiles were public and linked to their real names. Strava argued that the information had already been made public by the users who uploaded it, which was technically true, but the heatmap made it searchable at a global scale.

Reuters reported in March 2018 that Strava responded by restricting street-level heatmap detail to registered users and hiding roads with little activity until several users uploaded routes there.

#What StravaLeaks revealed in 2024

On October 28, 2024, the Associated Press reported on an investigation by French newspaper Le Monde called StravaLeaks. Le Monde identified 26 US Secret Service agents, 12 members of France's GSPR (the security service protecting the French president), and six members of Russia's FSO (the Federal Protective Service) with public Strava accounts.

#The Biden hotel example

Le Monde found a Secret Service agent whose Strava profile revealed the hotel where President Biden later stayed in San Francisco for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2023. According to the AP:

"A few hours before Biden's arrival, the agent went jogging from the hotel."

The agent's run, visible on Strava, showed the exact hotel before Biden's visit was publicly announced. The Secret Service responded:

"We do not assess that there were any impacts to protective operations or threats to any protectees."

#Macron's private trips

Le Monde also tracked French security agents' runs to reveal President Emmanuel Macron's private weekend in Honfleur, a coastal town in Normandy, in 2021. The agents' Strava activities showed when and where Macron traveled, even when those trips were not on his public schedule.

Macron's office said the consequences were "very slight."

#The wider risk

Le Monde did not name the agents they identified, but the investigation showed how identifying bodyguards "could also help in finding other details about their personal addresses, their families."

LSU professor Ibrahim Baggili, quoted in the AP story, noted that fitness app data can be used to track potential victims for stalking or robbery.

The StravaLeaks stories were not about Strava leaking data. The agents' profiles were public. Strava was working as designed. The problem was that the agents, and millions of other users, did not realize that public Strava activities starting at home reveal home addresses.

#How Strava's Map Visibility setting works

Strava introduced Map Visibility settings to let you hide parts of your activity map. According to Strava Support, after your first upload, the first and last 200 meters (about 650 feet) of future activity maps are hidden by default. But 200 meters might not be enough if you run a small loop or if your home is on a visible street.

Map Visibility gives you three options:

1. Hide activities near an address. You enter your home address (and work, gym, or other frequent locations), and Strava hides the start and end of activities within up to 1 mile of that address. This applies to past and future activities, unless you previously edited individual activities using the per-activity setting.

2. Hide the start and end of all activities. This hides the start and end of every future activity, regardless of location. It does not apply to past activities.

3. Hide the entire map. This hides the entire route for all future activities. Only you can see the map. It does not apply to past activities.

Strava's documentation includes an important caveat:

"Applying Map Visibility settings to your activity does not mean it would be impossible for someone to deduce a hidden location using additional information."

If you run the same route every day and someone knows your neighborhood, they might still figure out where you start. But Map Visibility makes it much harder.

#Six steps to hide your home on Strava

Do all six steps to protect your privacy. These steps work on both the Strava app (iPhone and Android) and the website.

#Step 1: Set Map Visibility to hide your home address

This is the most important step. It hides the start and end of your activities near your home, and it applies to past activities automatically (unless you edited them individually).

On the Strava app:

• Open the app and go to the You tab (bottom right).
• Tap the settings icon in the upper right corner.
• Tap Privacy Controls.
• Scroll down to Additional Controls and tap Map Visibility.
• Tap Hide activities near an address.
• Enter your home address. You can add multiple addresses (work, gym, etc.).
• Slide the radius to the maximum distance (up to 1 mile).

On the Strava website:

• Go to strava.com and log in.
• Click your profile photo in the upper right, then Settings.
• Click Privacy Controls in the left sidebar.
• Scroll to Additional Controls and find Map Visibility.
• Select Hide activities near an address.
• Enter your home address and set the radius to the maximum.

#Step 2: Review who can see your activities

Map Visibility hides parts of your map, but it doesn't change who can see your activities. If your activities are set to Everyone, anyone on the internet can see them (minus the hidden start and end). If your activities are set to Followers, only people who follow you can see them. If your activities are set to Only You, only you can see them.

Check your activity privacy:

• In the app: You tab, settings icon, Privacy Controls, Activities.
• On the website: Settings, Privacy Controls, Activities.

Choose Followers if you only want friends to see your runs, or Only You if you want complete privacy.

#Step 3: Review your follower list

If your activities are set to Followers, check who follows you. If there are people you don't know, remove them.

On the app:

• Go to the You tab, tap your profile name, tap Followers.
• Tap a follower's name, then tap the three dots and select Remove Follower.

On the website:

• Click your profile photo, go to your profile, click Followers.
• Click a follower's name, then click Remove Follower.

#Step 4: Edit old activities that start at home

If you changed Map Visibility settings but some old activities still show your home, it's because you edited those activities individually in the past. You need to manually update them.

On the app:

• Open an activity, tap the three-dot menu in the upper right, tap Edit.
• Scroll down and tap Edit Map Visibility.
• Choose to hide the start and end, or hide the entire map.

On the website:

• Open an activity, click the pencil icon (Edit), scroll down to Map Visibility, and select your preferred setting.

Do this for any old activities that reveal your home.

#Step 5: Use a different profile name or location

If your Strava profile uses your full legal name and lists your home city, consider changing it. A first name or nickname is enough. Your profile location doesn't need to be specific.

Change your profile:

• In the app: You tab, settings icon, Edit Profile.
• On the website: Settings, My Profile.

#Step 6: Check other connected apps

If you use a Garmin, Fitbit, Apple Watch, or other device that syncs to Strava, check that device's app too. Your run might also upload to Garmin Connect, Apple Health, or another service, and those might have different privacy settings.

#What about the global heatmap?

The global heatmap at strava.com/heatmap still exists. After the 2018 controversy, Strava restricted street-level detail to registered users and hid low-activity roads until enough users uploaded routes there. If you set your activities to Only You or use Map Visibility to hide your routes, your activities should not contribute to the heatmap.

But the heatmap is aggregated and anonymized. The bigger privacy risk is your individual public profile showing runs that start at your home.

#Is Strava safe?

Strava is safe to use if you configure it correctly. The 2018 heatmap and 2024 StravaLeaks stories were not about data breaches or Strava selling your data. They were about users uploading public activities without realizing what they revealed.

The risks:

• Public activities that start at your home reveal your home address.
• Public profiles with your real name make it easy to connect your Strava account to your identity.
• If you follow strangers or accept follower requests from people you don't know, they can see your routes (if your activities are set to Followers).

The solutions are in the six steps above. If you use Strava with privacy settings configured, you can keep sharing your runs with friends without broadcasting your home address to the internet.

#Why running apps need better defaults

The problem with Strava, and other fitness apps, is that privacy settings are optional. New users don't know to hide their home address until they read a guide like this or hear about StravaLeaks. By then, months or years of runs might already be public.

Strava's default 200-meter hidden zone is a start, but it's not enough. A better default would ask new users, during onboarding: "Do you want to hide your home address on your activity maps?" with clear options and examples.

Until apps like Strava change their defaults, the responsibility is on users to find and configure these settings manually.

#The bigger picture: fitness apps and location privacy

Strava is one app. The same privacy issues apply to Garmin Connect, Nike Run Club, MapMyRun, and other fitness apps that upload GPS routes. If an app shows a map of your run, and that map is public, anyone can see where you start and end.

The six-step routine works for most fitness apps:

1. Find the app's map privacy or route privacy setting and hide your start and end locations.
2. Set your activities to private or friends-only.
3. Review your follower or friend list and remove people you don't know.
4. Edit old public activities if they show your home.
5. Use a nickname instead of your full name.
6. Check all connected apps and devices for separate privacy settings.

Location privacy also applies to photo metadata, Google Maps reviews, and data brokers. Our main guide, how to remove your personal information from the internet, covers the full process. If you're working on cleaning up your online presence, fixing your Strava privacy settings is one piece of a larger project.

#The six-step routine (summary)

1. Today: Open Strava, go to Privacy Controls, Map Visibility, and hide activities near your home address. Set the radius to the maximum (1 mile). Check your activity privacy (set it to Followers or Only You, not Everyone). Review your follower list and remove strangers.

2. Check old activities: Open activities from the past few months. If any still show your home, edit them individually (three-dot menu, Edit Map Visibility).

3. Review your profile: If your profile shows your full legal name and home city, change it to a first name and a general location.

4. Check connected apps: If you sync Strava with Garmin, Fitbit, Apple Watch, or other devices, check those apps' privacy settings too.

5. When you add new addresses: If you move, or start running from a new gym or work location, add those addresses to Map Visibility.

6. When you accept new followers: Only accept follower requests from people you know, or set activities to Only You.

These steps take about 10 minutes the first time. After that, it's a quick check whenever you add a new follower or upload from a new location.

#Sources

1. The Guardian, Alex Hern, "Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases" (January 28, 2018). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases

2. The Guardian, "Strava shuts down heatmap of military bases after backlash over secret army base locations" (January 29, 2018). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/29/strava-secret-army-base-locations-heatmap-public-users-military-ban

3. Reuters, "Exclusive: Fitness app Strava overhauls map that revealed military positions" (March 2018). https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/exclusive-fitness-app-strava-overhauls-map-that-revealed-military-positions-idUSKCN1GP1WF/

4. Associated Press, "Fitness app Strava gives away location of Biden, Trump and other leaders, French newspaper says" (October 28, 2024). https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-macron-bodyguards-security-strava-0a48afca09c7aa74d703e72833dcaf72

5. Le Monde, StravaLeaks investigation (October 2024). https://www.lemonde.fr/en/stravaleaks/

6. Strava Support, "How Do I Edit My Map Visibility on Strava?" (2026). https://support.strava.com/en-us/articles/15402012-edit-map-visibility

7. Strava Support, "Privacy Controls" (2026). https://support.strava.com/en-us/articles/15401951-privacy-controls

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