Strava Personal Goals: Visibility, Privacy Settings, and User Control

Can other people see your goals on Strava?

No, your personal fitness goals set directly within the Strava app, such as weekly mileage targets or annual elevation goals, are not publicly visible to other users. While the activities you log contributing to these goals are visible based on your individual privacy settings, the underlying goal itself remains private to you.

Understanding Strava Goals

Strava, a leading platform for athletes, offers various features to help users track, analyze, and share their fitness activities. Among these features are "Goals," which allow users to set specific targets for their training. These can include:

• Weekly/Monthly Goals: Targets for distance, time, or elevation gain in running, cycling, or swimming.
• Yearly Goals: Long-term distance or elevation targets.
• Segment Goals: Personal bests or specific times on particular segments.

These personal goals are distinct from Strava Challenges, which are public, time-bound events often sponsored by brands or Strava itself, designed to encourage participation and competition among users.

The Core Answer: Goal Visibility

When you set a personal goal within Strava's "Goals" section (e.g., "Run 50 miles this month" or "Achieve 5,000 feet of elevation gain cycling this quarter"), this specific target is private to your account. Other Strava users, including your followers, cannot directly see these personal goals or your progress towards them on your profile or feed.

However, it's crucial to understand what is visible:

• Your Activities: Any activity you record and upload to Strava (runs, rides, swims, etc.) that contributes to your goals will be visible to others based on your activity privacy settings. If your activity is set to "Everyone," then anyone can see it. If it's set to "Followers," only your approved followers can see it. If it's "Only You," then no one else can see it.
• Challenge Participation: If you join a public Strava Challenge, your participation and progress on the challenge leaderboard are visible to other participants and, in some cases, publicly on the challenge page. This is because challenges are designed for communal engagement and competition.
• Segment Leaderboards: Your performance on specific segments is generally public by default, unless you specifically hide activities from leaderboards or use privacy zones.

Why Strava Goals Might (or Might Not) Be Visible

Strava's design philosophy prioritizes user control over privacy, particularly for personal data. The distinction between private goals and potentially public activities reflects this:

• Personal Goals as Private Motivators: The "Goals" feature is primarily intended as an internal tool for self-motivation and progress tracking. Making these private reduces external pressure and allows athletes to pursue targets without public scrutiny or the need to constantly update others on their progress.
• Activities as Shareable Achievements: Conversely, the activities themselves are often viewed as achievements or records that users might want to share with their community for kudos, comments, and social interaction. Strava provides robust privacy controls for these activities, allowing users to choose their preferred level of visibility.
• Challenges as Public Engagement: Strava Challenges, by their nature, are designed for public participation and competition. Their visibility is a core component of their function, fostering a sense of community and friendly rivalry.

Managing Your Privacy Settings for Goals

Since your personal goals are inherently private, managing their visibility isn't directly necessary. However, it's vital to manage the privacy of your activities that contribute to these goals.

Here's how you can control who sees your training efforts:

• Default Activity Privacy:
  1. Go to your Strava settings (usually via the gear icon).
  2. Navigate to "Privacy Controls."
  3. Under "Activities," you can set your default visibility for all future uploads to "Everyone," "Followers," or "Only You."
• Per-Activity Privacy:
  • When uploading an activity, or by editing an existing one, you can override your default setting. Look for the padlock icon or "Visibility" option to change it for that specific activity. This allows you to make some activities public while keeping others private.
• Privacy Zones:
  • You can set up "Privacy Zones" around sensitive locations (like your home or workplace). Any activity starting or ending within these zones will have those sections hidden from maps, even if the rest of the activity is public.
• Map Visibility:
  • Within Privacy Controls, you can also opt to "Hide your map" completely on activities or use "Enhanced Privacy" to hide the start and end points of all your activities, regardless of privacy zones.
• Profile Privacy:
  • You can set your entire Strava profile to "Private." This means that only followers you approve can see your activities, profile details, and training log. Even with a private profile, your personal goals still remain unseen by followers.

Impact of Goal Visibility on Motivation and Accountability

The privacy of personal goals versus the public nature of activities offers interesting dynamics for motivation and accountability:

• Private Goals for Intrinsic Motivation: Setting a private goal can foster intrinsic motivation, allowing athletes to focus on personal improvement without the pressure of external expectations. This can be beneficial for experimental training, recovering from injury, or simply enjoying the process without public scrutiny.
• Public Activities for Extrinsic Motivation and Accountability: Sharing activities publicly (or with followers) can provide extrinsic motivation through kudos, comments, and segment leaderboards. It can also create a sense of accountability, knowing that your training efforts are visible to your community. This social element is a powerful driver for many athletes.
• Challenges for Competitive Drive: The public nature of Strava Challenges taps into a competitive spirit, allowing users to benchmark themselves against others and push their limits in a structured, social environment.

By understanding Strava's privacy settings, athletes can strategically choose how much of their journey to share, balancing personal focus with the benefits of social engagement.

Best Practices for Strava Privacy

To ensure your Strava experience aligns with your comfort level regarding data sharing:

• Regularly Review Privacy Settings: Strava occasionally updates its features and privacy options. Take a few minutes periodically to review your "Privacy Controls" in settings.
• Understand Default Settings: Be aware of what your default activity privacy is set to. If you prefer more privacy, set your default to "Followers" or "Only You."
• Utilize Per-Activity Control: Don't hesitate to change an activity's privacy setting individually if it contains sensitive information or you simply want to keep it private.
• Implement Privacy Zones: For enhanced safety and privacy, always set up privacy zones around your home, work, and any other frequent starting/ending locations.
• Consider Enhanced Privacy: If you are concerned about your exact start and end locations being visible, even with privacy zones, consider the "Enhanced Privacy" option to hide those sections of your map.
• Be Mindful of Challenges: Remember that participation in public challenges and your progress within them are generally visible.

Conclusion

In summary, your personal fitness goals set within Strava are private and visible only to you. Strava's design ensures that your specific targets remain a personal metric for self-improvement. However, the activities you undertake to achieve these goals are subject to your chosen privacy settings. By understanding and actively managing these settings for your activities, you can leverage Strava effectively for both personal motivation and selective social engagement, ensuring your fitness journey remains as private or as public as you desire.