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The Polar fitness gadget company offers a range of heart rate monitors, fitness trackers and GPS sports watches. These are now common everyday devices, but the software they use and the data they share reveal some of the world's most secret locations as well as the detailed profiles of the people who work there.
As Bellingcat reports, A joint investigation with De Correspondent, a journalism platform, revealed that people wearing Polar devices while they were exercising had revealed "intelligence agencies," military bases and aerodromes, nuclear weapons storage sites and embassies around the world "
The problem is not the fitness and surveillance devices, but the data they publicly share on the Polar Flow social platform. The feed exists to allow individuals to share their exercise data, including shopping. The data collected include heart rates, dates, times, exercise duration and routes taken. So, someone who exercises on a military base will not only reveal where the base is, but also where she lives, because fitness trackers are usually turned off when they enter a house, and reignite themselves several hours later (and usually overnight). 19659002] If that were not enough, many Polar users publicly share their full names and provide a profile picture. It then becomes very simple to find a person who works at a military base, including his name and appearance, but also where he lives. If they follow the same courses regularly, you will even know where they will be on certain days and at what time. The Bellingcat investigation has identified people working at the FBI, the NSA, Americans in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Russian soldiers in Crimea. , troops on the North Korean border, submarine personnel and military personnel working in missile defense and cybersecurity to name only a few.
Polar is aware of the "sensitive nature of the revealed data". work on solutions to the platform's problems. For example, if a profile has been set to public, the collected and shared data will remain public even if the privacy settings are changed. Hopefully this situation will change soon and for the moment the company's API Explore has been suspended.
As usual, it is up to the user to take steps to protect themselves. Polar is not the only company to allow the sharing of sensitive information. In January, it was found that Strava's health card facilitated the search for military bases.
If a fitness tracker is used, make sure that all privacy settings are enabled and configured at the highest level of anonymity. If possible, do not share your personal information and consider using false information if necessary to protect yourself.
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