[mind_bakery]

True and false. At the moment, they are inexorably linked if tracking how much and how well you move is part of your fitness plan. GPS tends to be part of a common and usually pretty smart way to do that. For people who are deployed, it's important to have metrics of personal performance and keep track of any progress or decline in physical capabilities. Using that data wisely makes them better at whatever they do.

The problem isn't just the soldiers and it's not just Strava, it's the culture around data itself. Tech companies that produce quantified-self devices or services need to realize the ENORMOUS responsibility they're taking on by collecting and using this data. Users need to realize just what it is they are sharing and how their data gets from point A to point D. Burying it in the fine print is not enough. Maybe people should get into the habit of looking at the data profiles each company has on them or at least being aware of the totality of what's collected so they can make better decisions. It is kind of ironic that the point of collecting this data is to help people make better decisions while this particular case is actually a collection of really bad decisions. Fire is both a useful tool and a dangerous chemical reaction, this is no different.

Perhaps there needs to ALWAYS be an option to route the data to a private server of the user's choosing instead. If that were standard practice, it probably could have prevented this problem.