Fitness app users ‘put themselves at risk of burglary’
RUNNERS and cyclists could be putting themselves at risk when using fitness-monitoring apps, police have warned.
Apps that allow users to share workout routes or gym routines could enable criminals to calculate where potential victims live and when their properties are empty.
Community safety officer Kelsey Reed, from North Wales Police, advised people to turn on enhanced privacy settings.
She said: “The GPS data-sharing makes it easy to work out where a person lives and when they are not at home.”
Many apps allow users to share their cycling, running and gym routines through social media.
The community safety team advises users to check their privacy settings on such apps and ensure their home address is hidden.
They also say people should not start using a mapping facility until they are several streets away from their home.
Officer Reed said: “Fortunately, the apps make it very easy to adjust privacy settings in order to hide certain data.
“Implementing these privacy settings can help reduce the risk of burglaries, as addresses and daily routines remain private.”
Fitness apps allow users to track their distance, pace and calories burned, as well as sharing their workout with friends on social media.
According to Facebook, RunKeeper is one of the most popular running apps and has more than 50 million users worldwide.
Endomondo allows users to keep a full log of training, including route maps, distance, duration and calories, as well as sharing runs and hikes with friends on Facebook.
Map My Ride enables cyclists to record the exact path they have travelled and share the details with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Advice from Ofcom on using apps safely states that users should always be aware of which permissions they are granting, such as whether an app may use your current location.