Paris, March 20: A French naval officer’s public fitness app activity revealed the real-time location of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean, a security lapse reported by Le Monde amid rising tensions in the West Asia region.
Le Monde says the carrier’s position was exposed after a sailor logged a workout on his public profile, allowing anyone to track the ship. The sailor used a smartwatch to record a 36-minute run on March 13, covering more than four miles on the carrier’s deck. The data placed the nearly 900-foot vessel near Cyprus, about 62 miles off the Turkish coast.
The disclosure came about two weeks after US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and shortly after France announced the carrier’s deployment on March 3. The fitness app in question reportedly has around 120 million users and lets runners and cyclists share workouts with location data—a feature that has previously raised operational security concerns for military personnel.
Le Monde also reported at least one other public profile sharing geotagged workouts from another French Navy ship on active duty, including images of the deck, crew members and onboard exercise equipment.
France has faced similar problems before: security staff linked to President Emmanuel Macron and to other world leaders have used such apps in ways that exposed sensitive locations. In one prior case, a security agent tied to a US presidential visit publicly shared a running route that allowed observers to identify the visit’s location.
The French Armed Forces General Staff told Le Monde the sailor broke digital security rules by sharing his run and said “appropriate measures will be taken by the command.”
Regional tensions have been high: one-way attack drones previously struck a British base in Cyprus. Reuters, citing Cypriot officials, reported the attack targeted the UK base and was likely carried out by Iranian-backed Hezbollah using an Iranian Shahed-series drone. Following the strike, the UK deployed SAM systems, helicopters and the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to Cyprus.
Separately, US President Donald Trump has urged allies to bolster protection of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping route under threat amid escalating Gulf tensions.
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