Strava Privacy: Who Can See Your Activities and How to Control It

Can anyone see my Strava activity?

Yes, by default, many aspects of your Strava activity and profile can be visible to others. However, Strava provides a comprehensive suite of privacy settings that allow you to precisely control who sees your workouts, routes, and personal information.

Understanding Strava's Privacy Philosophy

Strava is designed as a social fitness platform, encouraging users to share their athletic endeavors, connect with others, and engage in friendly competition. This social-first approach means that certain aspects of your activity are often public or discoverable by default to foster community. However, recognizing the importance of personal privacy, Strava also offers robust controls to tailor your visibility to your comfort level. It's crucial for every user to understand these settings to ensure their data is shared only with their intended audience.

Default Privacy Settings

When you first create a Strava account, certain settings might be more public than you expect. While the specific defaults can evolve with platform updates, generally:

• Activities: Your uploaded activities are often visible to your followers by default, and sometimes even to "Everyone" depending on your initial setup or if you connect via third-party apps with broader sharing permissions.
• Profile Page: Your basic profile information (name, follower/following counts, recent activities) may be visible to "Everyone."
• Leaderboards: If your activity is public, your performance on segments will appear on public leaderboards.
• Flybys: This feature, which shows users who crossed paths during an activity, may be enabled by default.

It is imperative to actively review and adjust these settings rather than assuming they align with your privacy preferences.

Key Privacy Controls on Strava

Strava offers a granular level of control over your data. Navigating to your "Settings" (usually accessible via the gear icon on the website or mobile app) is the first step to managing your privacy.

• Profile Privacy:

  • Private Profile: This is a fundamental setting. If your profile is private, non-followers cannot see your activities, training log, or follower/following lists. They can only see your profile picture and basic stats. You must manually approve follower requests.
  • Public Profile: Anyone can view your profile and activities (unless individual activities are set to private).

• Activity Visibility:

  • This is perhaps the most critical setting for individual workouts. For each activity you upload, you can choose its visibility:
    • Everyone: Your activity is publicly visible to anyone on Strava, and it will appear on segment leaderboards.
    • Followers: Only people who follow you on Strava can see the activity.
    • Only You: The activity is completely private and visible only to you.
  • You can set a default for all new uploads and change individual activities after they are uploaded.

• Map Visibility (Privacy Zones):

  • Privacy Zones allow you to hide the start and end points of your activities on the map, protecting sensitive locations like your home or workplace. You can designate specific addresses, and Strava will automatically obscure a radius around them on your activity maps.
  • This is highly recommended for personal safety and privacy.

• Flyby Feature:

  • Flyby is a tool that allows you to see other athletes who were near your activity at the same time. If enabled, others can see your activity in their Flybys.
  • You can disable this feature entirely in your privacy settings.

• Group Activities:

  • When you record an activity with others, Strava automatically groups these activities. If one person has a public activity, it can potentially reveal the presence of others in the group.
  • You can choose to leave a group activity or prevent your activities from being automatically grouped.

• Leaderboard Privacy:

  • If you set an activity to "Followers" or "Only You," your performance on segments will not appear on public leaderboards.
  • You can also choose to hide your activities from specific segment leaderboards even if the activity itself is public.

• Beacon:

  • Beacon is a safety feature that allows selected contacts to track your live location during an activity. While designed for safety, ensure you understand who you are sharing your live location with.
  • This feature is only active when you manually turn it on for a specific activity.

Why Privacy Matters on Strava

Managing your Strava privacy settings is not just about personal preference; it's a critical aspect of your digital safety and security.

• Personal Safety: Sharing your exact routes, especially those starting and ending at your home, can inadvertently reveal your address and daily routines, posing a potential risk.
• Avoiding Stalking/Harassment: Limiting who can see your activities reduces the risk of unwanted attention or digital harassment.
• Professional Boundaries: For fitness professionals, maintaining clear boundaries between personal and professional life might necessitate stricter privacy settings.
• Preventing Data Misuse: While Strava is generally secure, minimizing public exposure of your data is a good practice for overall digital hygiene.
• Competitive Edge: Some athletes prefer to keep training details private to avoid giving competitors insights into their regimen.

Best Practices for Strava Privacy

1. Review Your Settings Regularly: Privacy settings can change with app updates, or your personal comfort level might evolve. Make it a habit to review your settings periodically.
2. Utilize Privacy Zones: Set up privacy zones around your home, workplace, and any other sensitive locations you frequent. This is a non-negotiable step for safety.
3. Default to "Followers" or "Only You": Consider making "Followers" or even "Only You" your default activity visibility, and only change specific activities to "Everyone" if you intend to participate in public leaderboards or challenges.
4. Be Mindful of Group Activities: Understand how group activities can affect your visibility and adjust accordingly.
5. Disable Flybys if Uncomfortable: If you don't want others to see when you crossed paths with them, disable the Flyby feature.
6. Educate Your Network: Encourage your fitness friends and clients to also review their privacy settings.
7. Think Before You Share: Before hitting "upload," quickly consider if you're comfortable with the chosen visibility for that specific activity.

Conclusion

While Strava's social nature means that some visibility is inherent, you are ultimately in control of your data. By actively engaging with the platform's comprehensive privacy settings, you can ensure that your hard-earned activities and personal information are shared only with those you intend, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of the platform without compromising your security or comfort. Take the time to understand and customize your Strava privacy; it's an essential step for every modern athlete.