Strava - Do you know who's following you?

Wottle · 13-03-2021 5:59pm #1

https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2021/0312/1203714-abuse-photography-case/

This guy was following a woman I know. He was using strava and turned up with his camera on two occasions to where she was training.
His strava account is a dead giveaway, he only appears to follow women.

Strava is great but everyone should turn on their privacy radius around their house and place of work, if they run from there.
Turn on the request to follow, this means nobody can follow you without you giving permission.
And get rid of any randomers from your account, especially if the guy named in the article is following you.

SeeMoreBut · 13-03-2021 6:45pm

Why would you have followers who you don't know. Like Facebook why have friends who you don't know.

Common sense would say have your activities set to you connections only.

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 6:57pm

Talking to Wottle and a group about this earlier, this guy requested to follow me on Strava a few years ago (maybe start of 2019). I knew I didn't 'know' him but had checked out his profile and as he was essentially a neighbour and seemed to be new to the area, I accepted him.
He would give me kudos on everything I put up and I would occasionally pass him when running, but something about him just didn't sit right with me and I never acknowledged him when I passed him something I never do would always be waving to other runners and cyclists when I'm out running.

One night, on a very rare excursion out for drinks I was standing at the bus stop to get a bus to luas and on into town and who turns up at the bus stop only this chap. I was already feeling there was something I didn't like about him and this stage and texted the friend I was meeting to tell her. She thought I was over reacting...he got of the bus at the same stop as me and went to the Luas stop where I immediately beelined it to stand beside another man and got on the luas at the other end of the platform to this guy. I texted my friend again and told her if he got off the same stop as me I would be super creeped out. I got off the Luas and walked almost straight into him. She was waiting there for me and continued to insist I was over reacting, sure isn't it perfectly normal to get off the luas at harcourt street....was just a bit too coincidental for me. You can be meeting people in Dundrum, Ranelagh, Stephens Green, City Centre...to get off the exact same stop as me felt so fu*king odd.

Looking back at my chats with her on WhatsApp, this was early June 2019 and I removed him as a follower as soon as we sat down to our meal. It was just too weird...bus stop is also right outside his block so I was never able to shake the idea that he saw me at the bus stop and came out. Maybe I was over reacting that day..but overall, clearly I wasn't.

Had actually told my parents about him too and a guy in work and they were all surprised to hear me speak about something like this as they know me as someone who doesn't get fazed easily...but reading this today, it definitely shook me. Was actually with my folks when I read the message from Wottle and they were horrified!

I've never actually interacted with the guy at all, other than accepting his follow request and him giving me kudos on Strava, but just feel it really goes to show that your gut tells you something isn't right for a reason.

Have shared this with a couple of neighbours with kids. I mean I saw this guy in the local centra during the week and I can't believe how accessible we all have been to him all while the guards are aware of him.

Irish times article on this with some more detail
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/district-court/man-allegedly-found-with-250-000-images-of-women-and-children-1.4508814

robinph · 13-03-2021 6:59pm

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

Why would you have followers who you don't know. Like Facebook why have friends who you don't know.

Common sense would say have your activities set to you connections only.

Because at certain times on creating Strava accounts the privacy has been non existant by default and you had to specifically turn it on and create the privacy zones. Not sure what the default settings are these days on creating a new account, but it's worth checking how your account is setup. Might also be other apps which you have linked to your account at some point in order to download some fancy chart and that other site doesn't have the privacy settings you think it does.

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 7:04pm

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

Why would you have followers who you don't know. Like Facebook why have friends who you don't know.

Common sense would say have your activities set to you connections only.

Some people on strava who follow me, I would know through boards and may have met them once or twice. Likewise with people in clubs I'm in who follow me, I may know their name or interacted with them on club whatsapp etc
I accepted this guy initially just to be nice, in case he wanted tips on where to run etc around the area but as I say, once I identified who he was when passing him, I quickly identified him as someone I didn't want to interact with.

Strava is like boards, it's social media, I see people who are members of dozens of clubs on strava and have hundreds of followers.

Lest we forget, it is not the people who are accepting strangers who are creeps to follow them who are in the wrong. It is the creeps that are in the wrong.
Your post is bordering on victim blaming there.

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 7:14pm

robinph wrote: »

Because at certain times on creating Strava accounts the privacy has been non existant by default and you had to specifically turn it on and create the privacy zones. Not sure what the default settings are these days on creating a new account, but it's worth checking how your account is setup. Might also be other apps which you have linked to your account at some point in order to download some fancy chart and that other site doesn't have the privacy settings you think it does.

That’s scary!!

I’m a Luddite and try and avoid social media.

I think my account on Strava is private (at least I know the few loons following me.

)

How do I set up a privacy setting around my house?

Thanks

TbL

Wottle · 13-03-2021 7:17pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

I’m a Luddite and try and avoid social media.

I think my account on Strava is private (at least I know the few loons following me. )

How do I set up a privacy setting around my house?

Thanks

TbL

Open strava, click into profile down the bottom, then settings up the top, then scroll down to privacy controls and then privacy zones.

adrian522 · 13-03-2021 7:17pm

Settings/Privacy Controls/Privacy Zones

https://www.strava.com/settings/privacy

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 7:21pm

Excellent lads. Thanks

I’ve done it, but not sure it’s masked it for my historic runs, does it automatically do that?

TbL

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 7:23pm

Jesus Christ almighty you can see satellite imagery of your house. Ffs!!

TbL

Annie get your Run · 13-03-2021 7:24pm

I have my privacy settings on and all my runs/workouts are only visible to followers. I have just done a cull on my list though as there were people following me i didn't know. Cant figure out how to turn on the request to follow feature though (maybe website only?).

Very scary indeed!

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 7:24pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Excellent lads. Thanks

I’ve done it, but not sure it’s masked it for my historic runs, does it automatically do that?

TbL

It does. You will still see the run displayed as normal but others won't.

wonski · 13-03-2021 7:24pm

From the article:

"In January last year, gardaí went to the home of Mr Boyle but the defendant escaped by jumping over a balcony, said Det Garda Grogan. Gardaí decided not to give chase “for the safety of everyone involved”"

What was that about?

adrian522 · 13-03-2021 7:28pm

There was a huge security black spot on strava until recetly with the "Fly By" feature which would show you the strava accounts of any strava users you encountered on a run. They've tightened that up recently to make it opt in instead of opt out but you should check that feature is set to "No One"

Wottle · 13-03-2021 7:32pm

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have my privacy settings on and all my runs/workouts are only visible to followers. I have just done a cull on my list though as there were people following me i didn't know. Cant figure out how to turn on the request to follow feature though (maybe website only?).

Very scary indeed!

Easier on the site but can be done on the app.
Privacy controls again and then click profile page and then followers.
It doesn't seem clear, so do double check. Have someone you know unfollow you and then to try follow you back. It worked for a friend earlier.

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 7:33pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

It does. You will still see the run displayed as normal but others won't.

Thanks RQ.

I’m now extremely skeptical, are you sure?

Detective Tang might confirm...

I’m actually annoyed that Strava can do that.

The default setting should be privacy and you have to proactively opt out of privacy settings

TbL

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 7:40pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Thanks RQ.

I’m now extremely skeptical, are you sure?

Detective Tang might confirm...

I’m actually annoyed that Strava can do that.

The default setting should be privacy and you have to proactively opt out of privacy settings

TbL

Fairly sure, I see people who I know well and know where they live starting and finishing their runs no where near home and start and finish spots are nowhere near each other

I should maybe turn this feature back on, I never adjusted it when I moved a couple of years ago.

Annie get your Run · 13-03-2021 7:42pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Thanks RQ.

I’m now extremely skeptical, are you sure?

Detective Tang might confirm...

I’m actually annoyed that Strava can do that.

The default setting should be privacy and you have to proactively opt out of privacy settings

TbL

I can still see satellite view of a house but don't know if its yours or within your privacy range but start & finish are the same point - I didn't realise you could do satellite view on strava either

Wottle · 13-03-2021 7:44pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Fairly sure, I see people who I know well and know where they live starting and finishing their runs no where near home and start and finish spots are nowhere near each other

I should maybe turn this feature back on, I never adjusted it when I moved a couple of years ago.

I've had a friend say they tried my 5 mile route but their garmin only registered 3 miles :-)

OOnegative · 13-03-2021 7:44pm

A gang of young travelers were using it for burglaries in South County Dublin a few years back.

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 7:48pm

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I can still see satellite view of a house but don't know if its yours or within your privacy range but start & finish are the same point - I didn't realise you could do satellite view on strava either

Well fcuk it!!!!

I live in the sticks so my address is a bit like “half a mile up the road from Main Street near Cooley Phat Willies”!!!

It doesn’t seem to take a bloody eircode!

TbL

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 7:52pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well fcuk it!!!!

I live in the sticks so my address is a bit like “half a mile up the road from Main Street near Cooley Phat Willies”!!!

It doesn’t seem to take a bloody eircode!

TbL

You could put another privacy zone where your current privacy zone ends to extend it out a bit. Personally don't think the privacy zone extends far enough, especially if you live somewhere where there is only one way in.

Tigerandahalf · 13-03-2021 7:53pm

Something to be careful about Strava is joining 'clubs' or other groups within it.

Even though you have full privacy settings on you could join a page, e.g. 100km in April.
There could be 100s of people in this group and they can all see what time you start your run and where you run.

Wottle · 13-03-2021 7:55pm

OOnegative wrote: »

A gang of young travelers were using it for burglaries in South County Dublin a few years back.

Loads of cyclists in the UK were being robbed of their expensive bikes and the thieves were using strava to do it.

opus · 13-03-2021 8:04pm

Wow this thread has been an eye-opener, glad that while I have a Strava a/c I have recorded a total of zero activities as it's just for the odd time someone send me a strava link & you need to be logged in to see all the details. My Garmin a/c is private so all good there.

SeeMoreBut · 13-03-2021 8:11pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Some people on strava who follow me, I would know through boards and may have met them once or twice. Likewise with people in clubs I'm in who follow me, I may know their name or interacted with them on club whatsapp etc
I accepted this guy initially just to be nice, in case he wanted tips on where to run etc around the area but as I say, once I identified who he was when passing him, I quickly identified him as someone I didn't want to interact with.

Strava is like boards, it's social media, I see people who are members of dozens of clubs on strava and have hundreds of followers.

Lest we forget, it is not the people who are accepting strangers who are creeps to follow them who are in the wrong. It is the creeps that are in the wrong.
Your post is bordering on victim blaming there.

I'm not victim blaming but I see what you are saying. Covid has got peope locking down their accounts due to maybe drifting outside their restrictions or group training.

Wasn't people with expensive bikes told to lock down their accounts as some bikes getting stolen due to it.

Maybe if strava didn't offer all these challenges that you need to open your activities to count might be a better idea.

Tigerandahalf · 13-03-2021 8:19pm

A handy quick way to see if your privacy zone is functioning is to check on the notifications icon. Go into where people have liked your run and the map displayed will show what other people see of your run, not what you see.

Annie get your Run · 13-03-2021 8:21pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well fcuk it!!!!

I live in the sticks so my address is a bit like “half a mile up the road from Main Street near Cooley Phat Willies”!!!

It doesn’t seem to take a bloody eircode!

TbL

As long as you know all your followers personally and you have your settings to 'followers only' you're grand. We swear* not to drop in unannounced!

*fingers crossed behind my back

ThebitterLemon · 13-03-2021 8:23pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

A handy quick way to see if your privacy zone is functioning is to check on the notifications icon. Go into where people have liked your run and the map displayed will show what other people see of your run, not what you see.

Are you sure just did that and I can still my house although someone else confirmed my privacy setting is now working

TbL

Tigerandahalf · 13-03-2021 8:26pm

Dont click into the full map, just click on the notifications for one of your runs and the small map at the top of the screen should show if you have it. Where you started will not show and the gps track will only start from whatever distance you set for the privacy zone.

RacoonQueen · 13-03-2021 8:58pm

adrian522 wrote: »

There was a huge security black spot on strava until recetly with the "Fly By" feature which would show you the strava accounts of any strava users you encountered on a run. They've tightened that up recently to make it opt in instead of opt out but you should check that feature is set to "No One"

I'm on the fence on this one, it was probably through this feature that he found me and others, on the other hand, it was through this feature I was able to go back through and pinpoint where I had passed the guy that I thought was him and confirm it was him, allowed me to be aware not to get into / start the friendly wave etc that I would do with other runners in the area.
Possibly no other way I would be able to read that article and go, 'Jesus I know who that is' other than via the flyby feature.

So yeah, on one hand it helped creeps be creeps, but on the other, it allowed me to identify guy who something felt a bit off about and enabled me to steer clear.

Peterx · 15-03-2021 10:52am

The famous example of the US covert operations bases being visible on the heatmap function does clearly show that Strava inc. didn't have privacy as a primary concern.

It's a social media site which thrives on connections, facebook for runners if you will. That's both a good and a bad thing and as Wottle and others have pointed out you need to be aware of what you are signing up to on those social media sites.

I loved fly by for the chuckles after nagivational hillraces but it definitely is/was a stalkers dream.
You should definitely set your follower setting to "request to follow"

Good tip about the groups too, I must leave the few groups I am in as I never really check them.

robinph · 15-03-2021 10:59am

Not Strava, but relevant to reasons the topic was started. Lots of watches will have panic button mode these days and here is how to activate it for some Garmin models:

https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=RfaXahBWkH8Q7pVFLsuUmA

Just hold the button for a few seconds and it will send a text to selected contacts with your location, should work in normal watch mode as well.

Would be equally useful if you trip over a tree root and need to let your lift back home know exactly which roadside kerb you are sat licking your wounds on.

CR 7 · 15-03-2021 11:01am

Thanks for the reminder, just cleared out my followers and groups/clubs. You can set multiple privacy zones so I've put a number of privacy bubbles to cover a big area around my home now.

Annie get your Run · 15-03-2021 11:24am

robinph wrote: »

Not Strava, but relevant to reasons the topic was started. Lots of watches will have panic button mode these days and here is how to activate it for some Garmin models:

https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=RfaXahBWkH8Q7pVFLsuUmA

Just hold the button for a few seconds and it will send a text to selected contacts with your location, should work in normal watch mode as well.

Would be equally useful if you trip over a tree root and need to let your lift back home know exactly which roadside kerb you are sat licking your wounds on.

This also works if you hit the pedestrian lights button too hard as I recently discovered - still, good to know it does actually work although i believe only if you're carrying your phone?

BeepBeep67 · 15-03-2021 11:31am

Not Strava, but in a similar mind, I see plenty of women sharing intra-run updates on Facebook and Instagram with an identifiable landmark in the background and maybe 4-5 miles from their house.
Safety is more important than likes.

robinph · 15-03-2021 11:35am

Annie get your Run wrote: »

This also works if you hit the pedestrian lights button too hard as I recently discovered - still, good to know it does actually work although i believe only if you're carrying your phone?

Yes, only if you are carrying your phone. But way easier to do than digging a phone out of a pocket and easier to do subtly if needed.

partyguinness · 15-03-2021 12:02pm

I personally know 95% of the people that follow me. I do have it restricted.

I have on occasion accidently pressed "Follow" with my fat thumb while scrolling on some random stranger while checking out a segment. Of course you can't take it back and you look like a right weirdo.

I have a random guy in Germany and we give each other Kudos because I accidently "Followed" him a few years back. He gives me Kudos all the time and out of guilt I do the same as he only has about 10 followers.

Murph_D · 15-03-2021 12:35pm

partyguinness wrote: »

I personally know 95% of the people that follow me. I do have it restricted.

I have on occasion accidently pressed "Follow" with my fat thumb while scrolling on some random stranger while checking out a segment. Of course you can't take it back and you look like a right weirdo.

I have a random guy in Germany and we give each other Kudos because I accidently "Followed" him a few years back. He gives me Kudos all the time and out of guilt I do the same as he only has about 10 followers.

Of course you can unfollow people. It's the kudos you can't undo!

crisco10 · 15-03-2021 1:02pm

I remember being a bit freaked out a year or two ago, I joined one of the Parkrun clubs on Strava and suddenly was getting all sorts of randomers giving me kudos on EVERY run. Like the same randomer was just constantly at it. I had my profile set up reasonably privately, and didn't realise at all that clubs were a back door in.

It was probably harmless, but have been careful about clubs since.

Re my followers, I audited them based on this conversation and there are no real randoms in there (not sure where people I met at a race once sit on the random continuum). I've had my profile on "request to follow" for a while now, and am a bit picky about who I accept.

Strava by its nature has little respect for privacy given the info being shared really, I remember twigging a friend of mine was "staying over" at a girls house because of his Strava activities. haha

partyguinness · 15-03-2021 1:06pm

crisco10 wrote: »

I remember being a bit freaked out a year or two ago, I joined one of the Parkrun clubs on Strava and suddenly was getting all sorts of randomers giving me kudos on EVERY run. Like the same randomer was just constantly at it. I had my profile set up reasonably privately, and didn't realise at all that clubs were a back door in.

It was probably harmless, but have been careful about clubs since.

Re my followers, I audited them based on this conversation and there are no real randoms in there (not sure where people I met at a race once sit on the random continuum). I've had my profile on "request to follow" for a while now, and am a bit picky about who I accept.

Strava by its nature has little respect for privacy given the info being shared really, I remember twigging a friend of mine was "staying over" at a girls house because of his Strava activities. haha

There are definitely "Kudo Whores" out there...I am joined up to 2 local clubs that are relevant- running club and local ParkRun. Some lads will have close to 40-50 clubs. Then you get the lads that post a full page commentary after each run. No idea who they are talking to. I swear the write up took longer than the run.

RacoonQueen · 15-03-2021 3:26pm

crisco10 wrote: »

Re my followers, I audited them based on this conversation and there are no real randoms in there (not sure where people I met at a race once sit on the random continuum). I've had my profile on "request to follow" for a while now, and am a bit picky about who I accept.

Yeah, I've had request to follow turned on for years now and still get randoms trying to follow me (like the guy in the article)
But sometimes you'd be thinking 'sh*te do I know this person? we have follower in common so maybe I do. Are they in the club? Have we raced together' and accept them just to be nice.

The goal for people like this though is gain trust by following randoms so other randoms they try to follow let them in on the basis that they have followers in common.

Look 99.9% of people are genuine and harmless, maye kudos whores so want to follow loads of people/have loads of followers etc..a minute number of people on strava are ones you need to be in any way wary of.

partyguinness · 15-03-2021 3:50pm

Has anyone else encountered the very very annoying runner who just joins your club but has absolutely no connection with it whatsoever and is determined to top the table with distance every week?

A few years back we had to almost gang up an a guy and tell him very politely to leave.

- He never ran with anyone else (ok not a crime)
- Never entered any events (again not a crime)
- He would consistently run back and forth to work everyday which was about 10k (5k back and forth) at about 8-9 min per km so he took his time (again no crime) exact same route.
- Never ran weekends (again no crime)

This is where it started getting iffy. One of guys in our club joined and he is also a very good club runner (10k in around 32 mins) and was consistantly clocking up 80-90k a week. But low and behold this weirdo miles away all of a sudden started upping his mileage and always happened to be 2-3 km ahead every week no matter what. So he was going from 50k a week to suddenly posting 80-90 km a week. The data was all over the place too. Couldnt quite figure out what he was doing.

I know it's petty on our part but he was definitely cheating. He did take a hint and left. We had invited him over to join us.

adrian522 · 15-03-2021 4:11pm

I manage our clubs Strava group. I find it strange how many people request to join who have no connection with the club.

Wottle · 15-03-2021 4:12pm

The guy from the article is still following 400 women (only). Thankfully all the runners we've had in common have got the message and have taken action, so he's no longer following them.

I also reported his account to Strava, but its just one button, they didn't ask for details. I wouldn't be too confident they'll know why I reported him, so with no info, I'm not sure they'll do anything.

event · 15-03-2021 4:15pm

I doubt strava will do much, not sure it breaks any of their T&Cs unfortunately

RacoonQueen · 15-03-2021 4:40pm

'Using Strava to stalk women so you can turn up at their regular training spot and photograph them without their consent' really should be against their T&Cs

I would imagine his profile is now getting a lot of reports to Strava though, so on that basis they may act.
The number of people he is following is going down as people start to block him as word spreads around our little running community, a couple of people in my club had found him amongst their followers. A real sign of how small our running community actually still is, given many of them are many miles from where he'd be most frequently 'running' himself.

I have been trying to stress as I mention this to people that we shouldn't forget most people are genuine. This is one person out of thousands and thousands who was not, I know a lot of women are already scared going out running and it's important to be mindful that this kinda sh*t is very, very far from the norm. I have run past him many times on dark winter nights or walked past him when walking round here and just kept eyes focused ahead, never would have imagined that this is what he was up to.

Annie get your Run · 15-03-2021 4:52pm

You'd think the garda would notify Strava, he's not even going under an assumed name! I don't see anyone i know on his list thankfully.

partyguinness · 15-03-2021 5:05pm

"Can we not do this tomorrow?"

What a response....certified weirdo in my books.

crisco10 · 15-03-2021 8:55pm

And as if to test me...a random (could be a boardsie!) Jist asked to follow me this evening..:pac::pac::D:confused:

OOnegative · 15-03-2021 9:14pm

Pain in the hoop for me to, getting PM’s, messages left right and centre from Boardsies asking who this fella or this wan is. Not a telephone book lads......

Strava - Do you know who's following you?

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