Sweden’s security services face mounting scrutiny after fitness tracking data from elite bodyguards inadvertently revealed the private holiday locations of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, including a secluded Seychelles island and the mountain village of Storlien in northern Sweden, according to Politico.
The breach, originating from the Strava app, also exposed movements during the royal couple’s June stay at a luxury villa on the French Riviera, enabling potential real-time tracking of their movements.
The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter analysed over 1,400 workouts uploaded to Strava since 2015 through July 2025, with approximately 70 files directly linked to royal protection details.
The data compromised not only the royals but also former Prime Ministers Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven, ex-Foreign Minister Ann Linde, and Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson.
The Strava logs allowed anyone monitoring the app to reconstruct the royals’ itineraries and security protocols. Some data was so detailed that it raised alarms about potential assassination or kidnapping risks.
This incident echoes a scandal where bodyguards of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson similarly leaked sensitive data through fitness apps. Despite subsequent internal reviews, the recurrence suggests unresolved systemic flaws in Sweden’s protective services.
