Especially the free version is (nowadays, 10 years ago when I really used it that wasn't a problém) lacking features to be a useful training (tracking/logging) tool on it's own.
And it's prone to the network effect, because now, people expect and want to see what their friends are up to and motivate each others.
During a job interview, I was once asked "oh, but you don't actually run too much, right?" (I had this in my resume). Which was somewhat right, I only occasionally run. I asked why they assumed this. "You are not on Strava!"
Ah, yes, but for different reasons xD.
I have played with the ForRunners app on F-Droid in the past to track my runs locally. I liked it, but I'm not disciplined enough for this stuff, and don't even have a smartphone usable for this anymore. So now, I just run without knowing anything and that's fine.
Of course, many, including me, have most public. It's needed to be on the public leaderboards ("segments"). But even then it's not live tracking publicly, and you can wait a few days to publish the activity if you're doing things abroad and are afraid it'll show people you're not home. (And I'd be more worried about Instagram etc in that aspect).
One cool feature, which unfortunately got severely nerfed due to privacy, was the fly-by. During your activity, you could see who else you met on the way. The cyclist blasting past us? Yeah, that was a semi pro, cool! Or during a race, could later see how everyone did in a cool visualization. The guy I biked next to for some kms and then lost track of, how did he end up?
But this could also be misused. Biked past a girl? Use fly-by to figure out who she is and stalk her. Could even upload fake activities to track everyone passing some spots etc.
Also, you could use Strava to figure out where people lived. And use that to targeted breakins for expensive cycle gear. However, now each activity will fuzz your start and end locations.
I feel Strava had taken privacy very seriously the later years. It's sad that it's needed, because some cool features aren't as usable anymore, but they've prioritized privacy.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/did-ukraine-just-assassinate...
What a creepy, american thing to say.
I find the bigger security issue is recording close to home, so people can theoretically see where you live and know what sort of expensive sports equipment you might have.
https://road.cc/content/news/248798-cyclist-who-had-five-bik...
And if someone shows off their expensive bikes on social media (and that's what Strava is, among other functions)... well, it makes it known to others that they own expensive bikes. Social media has been around for long enough that its users should be aware that this kind of behaviour may impose certain risks.
Now since I am not an elite cyclist nor race anymore I prefer my ride to be without a computer/screen and just enjoy the ride and the scenery and I don't need to publish everything I do.
Btw. Strava did add a "don't show GPS 200m near my home (or any other location)" feature some time ago. But I guess that still isn't the default.
https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000173384-Ed...
That would be a massive red flag for me. If they checkout my private life to that degree, even if running is on the C.V. (unless maybe running is a property of the job, like a pro running team or applying for Strava community person)
This was also a side discussion during a technical interview. It was fine, really.
Yeah, what a dick that guy was, trying to find something in common with the candidate to ease into the interview. Stick to leet coding questions, buddy!