Claims Burglars Using Cycling Apps To Target Victims

Cyclists in our region are being asked to think twice before using mobile phone apps to track routes.

Apps like Strava record information such as where a cyclist has been as well as the make and model of a person's bike and it's being claimed they could be leading burglars to homes where expensive bikes are stored.

Wayne Preston works at a cycling shop in Hull and wants people to be aware of the potential risks of using such apps. He told Viking FM:

"If you put your Strava upload to Facebook or Twitter and usually you have a picture of you on your bike or somewhere you've been recently like a holiday snap and then you say you're going away for like two weeks, you're basically leaving the garage door open."

He says the link came after speaking to customers who have used the apps:

"I was speaking to a family who had recently had four bikes stolen and when we got chatting away about it they mentioned they use Strava quite a lot, plus other apps and that's when got more concerned about it. We know then that there could be an easy link because I know personally that if I go on a few websites, people share a lot of information about the rides they've done and it just pinpoints exactly where you are and the exact route you've done.

"Over the last three or four months we've been advising customers to either turn the app off or change the privacy settings so that they don't get home and people have been able to follow them all the way back to their house. Also be careful about sharing the information on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites."