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Segments and privacy

dodgydd
over 9 years ago
I'm probably being paranoid, but it's my job ;)

All my rides are shown only to me, but I'd like to participate in leaderboards (that option is checked). But I understand that my activities have to be public to show up in segment leaderboards.

On a segment that I created recently, I can see the leaderboards and if I click on the profile of the riders on the leaderboard I can see that almost all of the time it will say "riderx only displays some information publically". Fine, they want their profile private, I can't see any of their rides unless I click on their leaderboard 'effort' for a segment, then I can see their whole ride, including most likely their start/end point which in most cases is going to be their home.

This seem odd to me, it seems to me that if your name is on a leaderboard, any complete stranger can see your entire ride and not just the few miles before/during/after the segment. They wouldn't be able to find the activity by clicking on your profile, but a quick glance at some local segments and you can find people's rides.

Comments?
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    What if the segment is right in front of your house?

    Strava already has a system that tries to hide activity data within a given radius from a fixed point. A lot of people are asking for this, but I'm not sure I understand why. While many value our privacy, it is pretty easy to find someone's address given their name and the city they live in.

    Travis
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    What if the segment is right in front of your house?



    This doesn't make sense. Just because I rode a segment, it doesn't mean I live next to it.

    Strava already has a system that tries to hide activity data within a given radius from a fixed point. A lot of people are asking for this, but I'm not sure I understand why.


    You really don't understand why someone would want this? Are Strava wrong to have implemented it?

    While many value our privacy, it is pretty easy to find someone's address given their name and the city they live in.

    Travis


    I don't use my real name on here, but are you not aware of the increase of criminals on sites like Strava and Garmin to gather the details of people with high value bicycles?


    I find your attitude to the privacy concerns and requests of Garmin customers to be a bit disappointing.

    Besides, I wasn't trying to get into a philosophical discussion, but rather hoping for some practical advice. You don't see much of that on Garmin forums from official staff, mostly moderators complaining about over / under use of quoting styles and other syntax.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I'm with Dodgydd on this. My rides will remain private and I'll continue to use Strava rather than switch to Garmin Connect until they rectify this.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Ditto. I'll store privately on Garmin and publish on Strava until Garmin Connect offers the ability to mask a home location like Strava. PITA but I value my bike.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    This doesn't make sense. Just because I rode a segment, it doesn't mean I live next to it.

    If a segment goes right past your house, then yes, you do live right next to it.

    You really don't understand why someone would want this? Are Strava wrong to have implemented it?

    Yet you don't mind sharing with everybody where you were and how long you were away.

    I don't use my real name on here, but are you not aware of the increase of criminals on sites like Strava and Garmin to gather the details of people with high value bicycles?

    I haven't heard about this, but it still doesn't change anything for me. What is to stop these guys from parking outside the local bike shop and casing guys who drive off with bikes on their roofs? Same effect, no?

    I find your attitude to the privacy concerns and requests of Garmin customers to be a bit disappointing.

    Lets get one thing straight... I am not a Garmin employee. I'm a regular user of Garmin devices and software just like you.

    Besides, I wasn't trying to get into a philosophical discussion, but rather hoping for some practical advice.

    I have two suggestions. Don't share your activity data on Garmin Connect with people you do not trust, at least until Garmin implements some solution to hide the location of your home, or the homes of those that you cycle with. If you value your privacy, then don't share your data. If you really must share your data, but don't want to wait for that, then create an account over on Strava and enable a privacy zone on your account.

    Travis
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Let's focus on the segment past my house thing.

    What the hell are you talking about?
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I haven't heard about this, but it still doesn't change anything for me. What is to stop these guys from parking outside the local bike shop and casing guys who drive off with bikes on their roofs? Same effect, no?


    No, not same effect. These people are coming to your/our houses in the dead of night and taking thousands of pounds worth of kit. Doubt it if you will, it is happening. Which is one of the reasons why Strava responded.

    Strava at least do tend to listen.

    You're coming across as belligerent. If I and others have a concern, then we have a concern. Or shouldn't we care about privacy because you don't?
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Besides, I wasn't trying to get into a philosophical discussion, but rather hoping for some practical advice.


    Ok, here's some practical advice.

    1) Don't upload any data to any online service that you don't want other people to know. i.e certainly don't rely on account security or settings to protect your data.

    2) If you still insist on using strava et al, then do a 5km or 10 minute warm up and warm down at the start and end of your rides (I'll assume the start and end is the part you want to keep secret) with the GPS switched off.

    3) Ride a cheap bike quickly. Only ride an expensive bike when Rupert Murdoch pays for it.

    4) Join real races in your local area and forget about online "leaderboards" that are pretty meaningless anyway. That way you can keep all of your data private (although heed (1) above - if someone wants it bad enough they'll probably find a way to get it)

    5) Use offline software to analyze your rides (you won't have to wait 30 hours for it to figure out what segments you rode for one thing)

    6) Buy a dog, feed it on sausages you shape to look like a bike thief. Put the dog's basket near to where you park your bike.

    7) Don't forget the pancakes on jif lemon day

    8) Never run with scissors
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Number 6) is my favourite ;)

    And with that, I'm out. No doubt in time Garmin will listen to their Customers.

    Bye all!
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Let's focus on the segment past my house thing. What the hell are you talking about?


    I live on a road. A popular segment on that road runs right past my front door. If I create a privacy zone around my home with a radius of 1km, it seems to follow that nobody would be able to see my achievements for that segment.

    Travis