From a close protection and travel security perspective, technology is both a force multiplier and a potential vulnerability. It enhances situational awareness, improves coordination, and strengthens operational effectiveness. At the same time, it can fail, be exploited, or be overly relied upon, at which point it becomes a vulnerability.

As technology becomes embedded in daily routines, GPS navigation, wearable devices, and automated data-sharing, its use becomes habitual. Settings remain unchanged, devices remain active, and data is continuously generated and transmitted, often without active consideration. Over time, this normalisation can obscure risk, reducing awareness of how easily such tools can create unintended exposure.

This dynamic is not theoretical. Exposures involving fitness tracking applications have surfaced repeatedly in public reporting over the past several years, yet they continue to reappear, largely driven by routine use and overreliance on technology.

Case in Point: French Naval Personnel

A recent example involved French naval personnel, where a seaman uploaded a routine workout to a public fitness application, recording a 36-minute run via smartwatch. What appeared to be a benign activity revealed the live location of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, operating in the Mediterranean near Cyprus during a sensitive period following regional airstrikes. Because the user’s profile was public, the vessel’s position, and potentially that of its accompanying fleet, could be inferred in near real time. Similar posts from another French Navy ship also shared geotagged images and activity data.

Why this matters (technology risk): Fitness tracking applications such as Strava automatically log and publish location data. If profiles remain public, or users fail to account for sensitive environments, this data can unintentionally expose:

  • Military positions and movements.
  • Identities of personnel.
  • Secure travel routes or accommodations.

Past incidents:

  • Security teams for leaders including Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden, and Vladimir Putin have used such applications, inadvertently revealing locations and identities.
  • In 2023, a US agent’s fitness activity exposed where President Biden was staying during a San Francisco trip with Xi Jinping.
  • In 2018, Strava’s global heatmap revealed activity patterns of US and allied troops in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, including movement routes outside bases.

Even technology designed to enhance security can amplify risk if mismanaged or left unmonitored. Every system, device, and application generates digital footprints, any of which can become a vulnerability in the wrong hands. In security operations, this duality demands constant vigilance: strict protocols, controlled access, and continuous reassessment of digital exposure are as essential as traditional physical security measures.

When Technology Fails: Nuclear Risk and Blackouts

The same dependence on technology can become a critical vulnerability in a different way. Beyond misuse or data exposure, there is the risk of systemic failure.

In the current geopolitical climate, the prospect of a nuclear incident or escalating conflict is a significant concern in its own right, as well as a pressing operational consideration. Large-scale blackouts, communication breakdowns, and system overloads are all plausible outcomes. Under such conditions, those who rely on GPS, mobile networks, and cloud-based platforms can suddenly find themselves blind.

For security and protection teams, this creates a fundamental challenge: the inability to operate in the absence of digital infrastructure.

Understanding technology must include understanding its limits. Preparedness is not only about leveraging advanced tools, but also about having the ability to operate without them, through practical familiarity with alternative systems that function independently of vulnerable infrastructure.

Alternative and Low-Tech Tools

  • Walkie-talkies and radio comms: Secure, reliable, and independent of public infrastructure, these devices are a staple for contingency planning.
  • Offline mapping and navigation: Paper maps or GPS devices with preloaded offline maps remain effective when mobile networks fail.
  • Mesh networks & Bluetooth apps: Bluetooth-based or mesh network apps allow devices to communicate without central infrastructure. These can provide limited situational awareness when Wi-Fi and cellular are down.
  • Portable signal boxes or satellite internet kits: Solutions that can restore minimal connectivity in an emergency, often used by military or critical infrastructure teams.

The key lesson is clear: reliance on technology without alternatives is itself a liability. Security operations must adopt hybrid strategies, pairing digital tools for speed and awareness with low-tech or alternative systems to survive unexpected failures. In a world where threats extend beyond cyberattacks or physical attacks to full-scale blackouts, radioactive leaks, or escalation to nuclear conflict, preparedness ultimately depends on whether you can operate effectively without the technology you take for granted every day.