Most of the tracks are not recorded by phones, but by (90% Garmin) sport watches, and the users chose to upload the tracks to Strava because of the useful features they add to that track (like comparing your exercise with others'). And the heatmap is only using the tracks that are public (again, the users chose to make them public). Ok, you don't know what other value Strava is extracting from these, but that was not a shady "we track you everywhere" business like other big names do, it's something the users really chose to publish.
Not at all. This is a good proxy for the activities of wealthy people who don't care about privacy. I'd be interested in this map if I wanted to know where to put up ads for overpriced energy bars. But this isn't a map of physical activity.
The title was changed after I posted my rant. Previously it used a term like population or people (can't remember) including everyone which was stupid.
This is actually a great point about a highly targeted physical marketing opportunity.
I recently saw a small sign nailed to a tree on one of the thousands of back roads in the area that basically turn into a parking lot during rush hour.
I'm sure you would catch some flak for spamming on nature trails but normal streets are less offensive.
to be fair, strava has a free app option, nearly everyone has a smartphone these days (not just the wealthy), and running is pretty much one of the cheapest sports/pastimes/activities one can do.
[edit] I guess the items highlighted in the blog post probably require some coin...
