That is the question that dawned on me today. It turns out... it could be if you're not conscientious. I am probably the VERY LAST PERSON who rides a bike to download this app. I didn't (and still don't) plan to link instagram/facebook/etc., I was just looking for a nice app to track my commute.
Last night on my commute, I passed a guy who I feel like is a bit of a Denver bicycling celebrity. He rides a penny farthing around town like a boss. Often wearing period clothing. He has let me kids sit on the bike, he's super friendly and just an all around good dude. So anyway, we passed on the path last evening, I gave him a salute, and smiled thinking about how cool it was to see him. I got home, stretched, showered, and went about with life. While checking my phone before bed, I saw this "Paul gave you kudos" message from strata. I looked, and sure enough... there's penny farthing dude... giving me a thumbs up on my ride. I was all giddy about it as I drifted off to sleep.
This morning when I woke up and got the chariot ready, I was looking at my phone and it hit me like a brick wall: even though I'm not sharing it on facebook or instagram, Strava itself is sharing my rides (and my embarrassingly high heart rate) to the Strava community. Any idiot with a smart phone now knows that some fat dude with a bike capable of a decent commute lives EXACTLY HERE and works EXACTLY there and takes the same route (more or less) at about the same time of day (more or less).
ALERT ALERT ALERT.
My brain started firing off like crazy on the ride in to work. I was super panicked and bummed that this new app I had downloaded (which really is pretty great) was going to compromise my peace of mind.
BUT... crisis averted. A quick google search later and POOF - panic averted... privacy settings enabled. SO yah... I'm late to the party, but for anyone else who cares, you can have your cake and eat it too.