[Closed] Random unknowns giving me kudos on Strava

i had a "Tim van der Pol" request to follow me, no idea who he is or why he wants to follow me, but he folls 1700+ people

I had a random from South Africa Kudos 2 of my (fairly poor) rides. You can see his rides from with out following him. He appears to be a real cyclist.

I'm just wondering how to lock it down so that it's not possible for randoms to view my activities. Anyone had any success at doing this?

could it be a six degree's of separation thing? He's a mat of a mate of a mate's mate possibly? or is it just like people who try to "friend" the world on FB?

Strava does seem to be full of opportunities for keen stalkers or enterprising thieves IMO...

Would accepting any request from this guy as a follower, affect his ability to view activity within your privacy zones? i.e. see exactly where all your rides start/end...

I've had this happen to me ,and after a bit of trial and error I found that there are several 'Back doors'within Strava that enable non followers to see your rides and add Kudos etc mainly via segment leader boards.

@bigmick25 that could be it as the strava privacy page does state that activities are still viewable through leader boards. Guess that's it then, unless there is some other way to restrict, other than keep everything private which seems to defeat the social aspect!

Just had a look, go to settings/privacy on the website and near the top there's the option to turn [i]"Enhanced Privacy Mode"[/i] on or off

if you turn it on:

Your name will be anonymized to all logged out athletes.
Only Strava athletes that you approve can follow you.
Only Strava athletes that you approve can see your photos.
[b]Only approved followers can see and download your activities on your Strava Profile.[/b]

that what you needed?

They don't make this shit obvious enough IMO...

[url= https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20944416-privacy-settings ]Further reading.... [/url]

cookeaa - Member
Just had a look, go to settings/privacy on the website and near the top there's the option to turn "Enhanced Privacy Mode" on or off

if you turn it on:

Your name will be anonymized to all logged out athletes.
Only Strava athletes that you approve can follow you.
Only Strava athletes that you approve can see your photos.
Only approved followers can see and download your activities on your Strava Profile.

that what you needed?

They don't make this shit obvious enough IMO..

sorry to say this doesn't really work I have this enabled but if someone goes to a leaderboard for a segment that you are listed on and clicks on the time for that segment you posted it will jump to your complete ride page from where they can give you Kudos.

You can give kudos to any ride that isn't private. Just go on the leadership board click onto the ride and give kudos. Can't see it being a problem or anything sinister. As said just like the facebook friends thing. If you don't want strangers looking at your rides mark them private or go really slowly and you'll be buried far away from the visible top of the leader boards.

@cookeaa you would think so wouldn't you ... that's the option I have activated, but the important text is 'on your strava profile'. So as I understand it people cannot access your profile unless you allow them, but this is shortcutted by this, appearing a bit further down the page you link to:

"Keep in mind that your activities are still visible in public locations like segment and club leaderboards, even if the clubs are listed as private"

A bit mad really becuase unless you make all your activities private then you will inevitably appear on a segment leaderboard even if your xth out of x people! I think this is what is happening in my case.

I've had Kudos this week from people all over the world this week.

http://www.strava.com/activities/177824160

If you don't want kudos, make your activities private.

I used to get Kudos of the same bloke every time I uploaded an activity, usually within 10 minutes. I blocked him in the end as it was creeping my out.

If it was you and you are reading this on here… I have blocked you because you were creeping me out you fricking weirdo.

They don't make this shit obvious enough IMO..

In their deffence it's a socialnetwork, if you just want to log rides and monitor your times on segments then excel can do that. STRAVA's point is being able to see other peoples rides/segments.

"All over the world" is a bit of an overstatement for loads from the UK, 3 from Australia and one guy from France.

That last one's me, because you deserve it!

@HarrytheSpider how did you block this individual? It's not clear to me how I do that as this person doesn't follow me.

That last one's me, because you deserve it!

Thanks 🙂

@HarrytheSpider how did you block this individual? It's not clear to me how I do that as this person doesn't follow me.

[s]I went round to his house and killed him with a shovel.[/s]

Can't remember now as it was a while back, I think I did it by clicking on him and blocking him that way.

I miss stroking myself whilst dreaming of Harry The Spider going for a KOM. You've ruined my life HTS!

If you don't want kudos, make your activities private.

Today's award for not actually reading the thread goes to...

In their deffence it's a socialnetwork

Granted, But I'm not so sure it should allow such completely anonymous, un-logged, viewing of people's activities by anyone with an internet connection, a Privacy Zone around your home is made pretty pointless by someone being able to view your general pattern of riding and knowing exactly when and where to sit and wait on a given day to see a bloke trundle by on a £1K+ bike to then follow them that last few hundred meters to his home...

I hate to say but it is a fantastic tool for organized criminals looking to schedule a bit of "Late night shopping"...

A mate has privacy problems with mapmyride. Every Monday morning I get an email telling me about his latest achievement on some segment or other. I ALREADY KNOW YOU STUPID ****ING BASTARD SYSTEM, I WAS ABOUT 50 METRES BEHIND HIM AT THE TIME.

I have a weird one, where Elbry (of "The Godfather of UK freeride" fame, look him up if you want a laugh) keeps giving me kudos on random rides.

OP its Chewkw stalking you.

I get Kudos as I have the same name as a local racer, they must think he's doing some strange training.

But one of the parts of the site is that it's public and social. If somebody created 3 segments that made up your ride all would be visible on leaderboards that you had done them and when, so why not your ride?

...and they live in Thailand

Have you asked for pics?

Granted, But I'm not so sure it should allow such completely anonymous, un-logged, viewing of people's activities by anyone with an internet connection

Well, yes, that's what it is. If you don't want the world and his wife to see you on STRAVA, then why use it? Use some other software to log rides, rather than missapropriating a site designed to share them?

It's like photos, got some DIY grumble of your missus? Keep it on your hardrive, don't put it on facebook!

I use the FlyBy functionality to see who the randomers I met on my last commute were, and give them kudos for this very reason 🙂

Side note
what is the point of kudos?
I assumed it was the strava version of "Like" but I keep getting kudos on some pretty mediocre rides and one guy I know just kudoses everything I do.

So is there some other function to it? Do you get awards for giving/receiving the most kudos?

Or do you reckon some people class just getting out on your bike as worthy of kudos?

I use the FlyBy functionality to see who the randomers I met on my last commute were

in the absence of a kudos button, I'm "sharing" you all

(especially you, Harry 😳 )