Strava is an American internet service for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features. It started out tracking mostly outdoor cycling and running activities using Global Positioning System data, but now incorporates several dozen other exercise types, including indoor activities.[4] Strava uses a freemium model with some features only available in the paid subscription plan. The service was founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath and is based in San Francisco, California.
Overview
Strava records data for a user's activities, which can then be shared with the user's followers or shared publicly. If an activity is shared publicly, Strava automatically groups activities that occur at the same time and place (such as taking part in a marathon, sportive or group ride). An activity's recorded information may include a route summary, elevation (net and unidirectional), speed (average, minimum, maximum), timing (total and moving time), power and heart rate. Activities can be recorded using the mobile app or from devices manufactured by third parties like Garmin, Google Fit, Suunto, and Wahoo. Activities can also be entered manually via the Strava website.
Strava Metro, a program marketed towards city planners, uses cycling data from Strava users in supported cities and regions.[5][6]
History
Strava, which means "strive" in Swedish (although spelled "sträva" in Swedish with an "ä"), was founded in 2009. Cofounders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey first met in the 1980s as members of Harvard University's rowing crew.[7]
Initially popular with cyclists and eventually runners, by 2017 over 1 billion activities had been uploaded to the service.[8] By 2020, Strava had more than 50 million users and three billion activities had been uploaded.[9]
In early 2023, Strava significantly raised subscription prices in many markets—some more than doubling.[11][12] A month earlier, the company laid off approximately 14% of its workforce.[13] The company's last venture capital funding was a $110 million Series F in 2020.[14] In January 2023 Strava also acquired Fatmap, a company focused on building high-resolution 3D maps used for outdoor activities, with a long-term goal to integrate Fatmap’s core platform into Strava itself.[15]
In February 2023, founder and current CEO Michael Horvath announced that he would resign.[16][17]
Features and tools
Strava incorporates social media features which allow users to post their exercises to followers. Alongside a GPS map of their exercise users can also post pictures and videos. Followers can then comment on posts and give 'kudos' in the form of a like button.
Beacon is a feature that allows Strava users to share their location in real time with anyone they choose to, and nominate others as a safety contact for their workout. Other premium features include access to custom route-building tools and access to map segment leaderboards.
Strava maintains a system of leaderboards that show the most frequent runners or riders on a segment, as well as the fastest times by activity type. These fastest segment times (also known as KOMs, for "King of the Mountain") have been widely criticized for including times by athletes banned for doping, as well as fake times logged by motorized vehicles and other forms of cheating.[18][19][20] In response, Strava released tools for users to report suspicious activities.[21]
Privacy concerns
In November 2017, Strava published a "Global Heatmap"—a "visualization of two years of trailing data from Strava's global network of athletes."[22] In January 2018, an Australian National University student studying international security discovered that this map had mapped military bases, including known U.S. bases in Syria, and forward operating bases in Afghanistan, and HMNB Clyde—a Royal Navy base that contains the United Kingdom's nuclear arsenal.[23][24][25][26] The findings led to continued scrutiny over privacy issues associated with fitness services and other location-aware applications; Strava's CEO James Quarles stated that the company was "committed to working with military and government officials" on the issue, and would be reviewing its features and simplifying its privacy settings.[27][28] Although users can now opt out of having their data aggregated on the global heatmap, the original data that contains sensitive information has been archived on GitHub.[29][30]
A separate security flaw was reported in June 2022 that allowed the identification and tracking of security personnel working at military bases in Israel. Distinct from the previous heatmap issue, this vulnerability relied on Strava's segments feature.[31]
In June 2023, a report claimed that Strava heat map data could be used to reveal the home addresses of highly active users in remote areas.[32]
In August 2023, Strava was used to identify a person as the alleged arsonist who lit a Trump supporter's lawn sign on fire. [33]
