AllTrails Data Exposes Precise Movements of Former Top Biden Official

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A security researcher appears to have tracked the physical location of a former top Biden administration official through his apparent usage of AllTrails, a popular hiking app with more than 30 million registered users. The AllTrails records appear to show the official visiting sensitive locations such as the White House, and also suggests the specific house where he or his family lives. By default, AllTrails users' activity is public for anyone to view, including completed trails, maps, and activities. But that convenience and focus on providing a social network style experience comes with potential risks around national security or privacy, depending on the particular user. Whether a public figure like a government official or celebrity, or someone at risk of stalking in general such as someone in an abusive relationship, AllTrails' privacy settings may be something users should consider. "I found interesting results by searching near the Pentagon, NSA, CIA or White House and then looking at the user's other activity," Wojciech, the security researcher, told Motherboard in an email. Wojciech said they used their own open source intelligence platform as part of the investigative process. They said the tool supports Strava and another app called SportsTracker, and will include AllTrails itself soon. Wojciech sent Motherboard a link to what they believed to be the AllTrails profile of the former top Biden official. Motherboard is not naming the official because they did not respond to requests for comment, and their profile is still publicly accessible. One trip to the White House in December recorded in AllTrails also shows a nearby apartment building he ended his journey at. More trips recorded that month show the official's other movements throughout Washington D.C. Much of the AllTrails activity relates to when this official was part of the administration. Motherboard searched through the official's AllTrails activity and found multiple hikes starting from the same location. Motherboard then queried public records and found this location was a house registered to the official's family, meaning AllTrails had helped identify where the official or his family may have been living. Motherboard also verified that the official does have an account on AllTrails by attempting to sign up to the service with the official's personal email address. This was not possible because the address was already registered to an account.

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