The French Ministry of the Armed Forces recently took "appropriate measures" after a naval officer inadvertently exposed the location of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle via the fitness-tracking app Strava.
The breach occurred while the officer was jogging on the carrier’s deck with a GPS-enabled device. Strava’s "Global Heatmap" feature, which aggregates user data to show popular exercise routes, displayed a distinct pattern of activity in the Mediterranean Sea. This allowed open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts to pinpoint the vessel’s exact coordinates and track its movements in real-time, compromising a high-stakes military asset whose location is usually classified.
While the French Navy downplayed the immediate tactical risk – noting that adversarial satellites already monitor the ship – the incident highlighted how seemingly innocuous data can play a significant part in system safety if not managed correctly.
The Data Safety Initiative Working Group is committed to raising the awareness of the role data can play in system safety and has produced guidance on how to manage these risks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9vdel17wqo
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