Do You Know Who Owns Your Strava Data?

Strava, the mobile fitness app used by cyclists and runners to track their performance with GPS, is selling the personal data of its users to governments to help urban planners improve bike routes.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has already signed up for the Strava Metro service, paying $20,000 for the data. Strava's mission is to leverage the millions of GPS-tracked activities uploaded by its members every week to help make cycling in cities better.

The end goal could be a major win for cyclists. It also raises questions about the rights users have over their personal data.  

More: Should You Stand to Pedal on Climbs?

American governmental institutions are still catching up with the idea of using big data, and the legal framework for accessing data collected by private companies is murky.

ODOT and Strava aren't intruding on citizens' privacy to the extent of the NSA. Strava says the data set of over 300 billion GPS points it has collected worldwide are anonymized and aggregated to protect privacy. Still, the new service raises questions about what data will be shared, how it will be transferred, and what the government intends to do with it.

The ODOT Deal

ODOT officials told bike advocacy blog BikePortland, which broke the story, that the partnership is experimental. ODOT has used Strava data in the past when the government agency's own equipment failed to accurately assess trends in cycling traffic. But these situations involved specific data and circumstances. The new deal is much broader.

More: 10 Ways to Lose Weight Fast on Your Bike

ODOT has purchased a tool without knowing exactly what they can do with it. The immediate plan is to analyze the data for opportunities to improve bike routes for Oregon cyclists. Efforts will focus on showing the highest areas of traffic and those with the most recurring problems.

Studies in Portland have validated this approach, but the accuracy involved in identifying such trends yields clues concerning other potential uses. Strava pulls in position and speed data so accurately that it can often be used to identify what lane a cyclist is using on a particular road. It also tracks the time of your ride using the GPS satellite constellation, which runs according to atomic clocks at various GPS satellite ground stations throughout the world.

Strava's Other Data

With such accuracy, could the government use Strava data to figure out if a cyclist ran a stop sign or a stoplight? Could it be used in the event of an accident involving a vehicle to map a cyclist's behavior prior to a collision?

More: 7 In-Season Resistance Exercises

This is just speculation, as the data is intended to be anonymous. But this is were data collection can get murky.

GPS data isn't the only type of information Strava could share with ODOT. The website allows users to identify themselves, post photos, and write comments about routes and events. While ODOT will begin by figuring out concentrations of bike traffic throughout the state using GPS data, it would be easy for them to create a database of Strava's user-created "segments" to identify "hot spots" where cyclists may be riding in especially aggressive fashion.

In his piece in Bicycling magazine on the Strava-related death of Kim Flint in 2010, David Darlington compared some of the site's "KOM" segments to illegal street racing. He even showed how easy it is to identify cyclists breaking the law by finding several KOM segment leaders who recorded speeds in excess of the posted speed limit.

How well this data would stand up as evidence in court is up to a judge. Could ODOT use this kind of data to pinpoint areas where cyclists need to be monitored, even for their own good?

More: 10 Famous Cycling Quotes

This data usage falls more under the purview of law enforcement than DOT, and leads to another question. Just what limits are there for government access to your private data, and do you have any power to protect it? Could law enforcement strike a similar deal with Strava? Could authorities simply access your data with a warrant? This is an issue that executives at Facebook, Apple and Google have criticized the government in the wake of revelations over the NSA's secret PRISM surveillance program. As the government figures out ways to work with technology, the debate is certain to continue.

As of right now, Strava is the only company selling its data to ODOT. As cyclists well know, Strava has specific customer base that is not necessarily representative of the broader cycling community--especially when it comes to commuters.

The Missing Commuter Data

Many Oregonian cyclists have criticized the deal, saying that Strava may provide misleading data that either distorts ODOT decision making in construction projects or influences them to undertake projects that favor only recreational and competitive cyclists.

More: 10 Things I Learned From Being Hit by a Car

This is a legitimate concern with a limited number of solutions. The immediate answer would be for commuters to join and use Strava so that their data would be included in what ODOT sees. This is would be an appealing solution to Strava, however, it carries several consequences for the individual. More Strava users in the ODOT program would make it seem more successful. It would encourage broader use by other cities with large cycling populations. In a way, it would be feeding the beast.

This would also increase Strava's user base and company value, which may or may not be a desired outcome (based on how much you like Strava).

The principle cuts both ways, though. If competitive cyclists fear that putting too much data on Strava threatens to ruin their online competition, it might encourage them to use more discretion in which data they upload. This could help Strava's competitors.

More: 8 Hand Signals for Your Next Group Ride

This is an extraordinary development in cycling, albeit one that should have been foreseen. We have created a world filled with devices that follow us wherever we move, and we use them by creating data on-the-go.

The next rational step is to begin using that data and incorporating it into every element of our lives. We often adopt technology before we're sure what its consequences will be. The Strava-ODOT partnership is just one example of our try-first-, think-later approach.

As of now, there are more questions than answers, which makes it all the more important for people to keep an eye on the future.

More: Cars Versus Bicycles: Where's the Justice?