French newspaper Le Monde recently unveiled how fitness apps like Strava, commonly used by security personnel of world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and others, can become virtual tracking devices for their confidential movements. It appears that the US Secret Service, tasked with the security of these high-profile figures, doesn’t seem to consider this probabilistic vulnerability as a risk. This lackadaisical approach has permitted crucial movements to be trackable through Strava among Secret Service agents.
Le Monde’s findings put a spotlight on the imprudent usage of such apps during sensitive times such as in the aftermath of recent assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump. Some might find it alarming, but it seems like the US Secret Service agents are not deterred from broadcasting their footprints online.
The investigation further extends to other nations with Strava usage detected among those tasked with protecting French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Remarkably, precise tracking enabled Le Monde to expose private movements of the French President.
In an episode that crossed the boundaries of a leader’s right to personal life, the app helped trace the undisclosed weekend getaway of Macron to a fashionable seaside resort in Normandy in 2021. This raises questions as to why the protection details of world leaders would allow such breaches to occur in the first place.
Further into the findings, the movements of Melania Trump and Jill Biden were also made predictable by tracking the Strava profiles of their security details. While all of this is going on, Biden seems to cruise unperturbed with his security measures failing around him.
When requested for a comment by Le Monde, the US Secret Service merely brushed off concerns, stating that their employees on duty are discouraged from using personal electronic devices. The reality on ground, however, starkly contradicts this claimed rule. Despite this blatant contradiction, there appears to be no organized effort to address these issues, which can erode the security apparatus around such pivotal figures.
According to the US Secret Service, this potentially grave issue might only necessitate ‘additional training or guidance’. The statement also dismisses the notion that such tracking could impact protective operations or pose threats to any protectees.
The tracking ability was so invasive that an agent’s Strava profile revealed the location of Biden’s San Francisco hotel stay for high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023. This information was available to anyone online just a few hours prior to the President’s arrival, as the agent had jogged from there using Strava.
The report identifies 26 American agents, 12 French GSPR members, and six Russian FSO personnel – virtually everyone in charge of presidential security – who recklessly use Strava, revealing their movements during professional trips. The identities of these bodyguards were withheld by Le Monde, who seemed more aware of the gravity of the situation than the bodyguards themselves.
The Le Monde investigation underscores the likelihood of security risks arising from these fitness apps when agents conduct reconnaissance visits to locations like hotels where the dignitaries eventually check-in. Yet, the White House appears to be nonchalant about such glaring security oversights.
Even after learning about the study, Macron’s office dismissed these findings indicating they constituted a ‘very slight’ risk to the President’s security since local authorities were aware of his movements. However, this doesn’t account for foreign actors and other adversaries who might exploit this information.
Professor Ibrahim Baggili from Louisiana State University points at this incident to underline the necessity of more stringent regulations on tech firms’ data usage. But the growing pile of such incidents shows that the Biden administration doesn’t seem to take these evolving threats seriously or consider them worth addressing in a proactive manner.
In conclusion, such damning revelations should put to rest any illusions of the foolproof security of high-ranking officials. However, the Wendy’s-eating, sunglasses-wearing Biden appears to remain clueless about these potential vulnerabilities as the report states that this leaked data could even be used maliciously against agents. It’s a grim consideration for everyone but seems to be just another day at the office for Biden and Harris.
Biden and Harris Blindly Trust Faulty Security Measures appeared first on Real News Now.