Running app reveals location of France aircraft carrier in Mediterranean
PARIS: A member of the French navy using an app to track his jogging performance broadcast the exact position of his country’s flagship aircraft carrier, a newspaper has reported.
France deployed the Charles de Gaulle — and accompanying frigates — to the Mediterranean in early March shortly after US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked war in the Middle East.
It has been in the eastern Mediterranean since March 9 as part of what Emmanuel Macron has called a “purely defensive” posture in support of France’s allies in the conflict.
Le Monde newspaper reported on Thursday that the runner jogged in circles on a ship in movement on March 13 in the middle of the sea northwest of Cyprus, according to his public profile on the Strava fitness tracking app, while satellite images showed the aircraft carrier was in the immediate vicinity at the time.
The same person had also been running in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late February, across a bridge from Malmo, Sweden, where the Charles de Gaulle was anchored at the time, Strava data showed.
The French armed forces told AFP appropriate measures would be taken if the report was true, as members of the navy were regularly reminded about the risk of security breaches using such apps.
“The reported case — if confirmed — does not comply with the current instructions,” it said.
Running app profiles have given away sensitive information before.
In 2024, Le Monde reported that the bodyguards of Macron, the US president Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin were inadvertently giving away information about their whereabouts while accompanying them on trips.
In 2018, Strava maps showed the locations of US and allied military personnel in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
While some bases were well known to groups that might want to attack them, the maps also showed what appear to be routes taken by forces moving outside of bases — information that could have been used in planning bombings or ambushes.
