Swedish Prime Minister’s Safety Risked by Fitness App

A new report from Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter shows that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and other top leaders faced serious safety risks. The reason? Their bodyguards used a fitness app called Strava and left their activity data public.

These bodyguards belong to the Swedish Security Service (Säpo). Seven of them used the app to log their daily runs and workouts. However, their profiles were not private. Anyone using the app could view their data. This revealed many details, including:

• The Prime Minister’s private address
• His jogging routes and workout times
• Locations of secret meetings and family trips

Why Is This Serious?

The mistake is not just about exercise. This data could help someone plan an attack or follow the Prime Minister’s daily life. The bodyguards shared over 1,400 activities. These included workouts in areas like:

Location	Event
Åland Islands	Private family trip
Bodø, Norway	Meeting with Norway and Finland leaders
Central Park, New York	Workout during foreign visit
Seychelles	Royal family vacation
Military base in Mali	Exercise near secure location

These logs also exposed places visited by former leaders, including Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven, and by royal family members.

What Did Strava Do?

Strava is a very popular fitness app. It has over 150 million users from 185 countries. Users can record and share their running or cycling routes. But if a user does not make their profile private, anyone can see their location and workout time.

A spokesperson from Strava said:

“We did not leak or hack any data. Our users have control. People who work in sensitive jobs must use privacy settings.”

Still, the problem has happened before. In 2017, Strava showed the locations of U.S. military bases in Syria and Afghanistan through a public heat map. In 2023, a Russian submarine commander was killed during a run after his Strava profile gave away his location.

What Is Sweden Doing Now?

The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) is now reviewing what happened. They admitted that bodyguards made mistakes. Their spokesperson said:

“We take this seriously. This data can help someone track the Security Service. We’re taking steps to fix the problem.”

Säpo added that bodyguard protection is only one layer of safety. Other security systems are also in place. However, many experts say this type of data leak should never happen at all.

They are now working on new rules to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Swedish Royal Court did not comment on the case.

Who Else Was Affected?

Apart from Prime Minister Kristersson, the leaked data also exposed:

• Two former Prime Ministers
• Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson
• Members of the Swedish royal family
• Other senior political leaders

Some of their vacations, secret meetings, and even paths inside royal properties were made visible on the app. This shows how even small mistakes in digital habits can put national leaders at risk.

What Can We Learn From This?

The story is a warning to everyone, not just government workers. If you use fitness apps, you must check your privacy settings. Never share locations, routines, or addresses in public. Once data is online, it can spread fast and fall into the wrong hands.

For people in sensitive jobs, it is even more important to use secure tools. Fitness is good, but safety must come first.

Conclusion

The Swedish government is now dealing with the fallout of this mistake. No direct attacks have happened yet, but the risk was real. This case shows that in today’s world, digital habits matter just as much as physical security.

In the future, governments may ban such apps or build their own safer fitness trackers for people in important roles. Until then, users must be aware and stay safe.

Featured img url – © European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons