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Strava API Policy – Using GPS Activities to Track Visited Mountain Summits

  • Nov 12, 2026 7:32 PM UTC
  • 0 replies
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Hi everyone,

I'm an independent developer from Slovenia working on Vandra.si (https://vandra.si), a free hiking and outdoor route planning platform.

The platform allows users to discover mountain peaks, explore hiking routes, plan custom routes on an interactive map, and export GPX files.

I'm considering integrating the Strava API to allow users to synchronize their completed hiking activities and track which mountain summits they have visited.

How the feature would work:

  1. A user connects their Strava account to Vandra.si via OAuth.

  2. Vandra retrieves their hiking activities and GPS tracks.

  3. The GPS tracks are compared against our existing database of Slovenian mountain peaks to identify visited summits.

  4. Detected summits are saved in the user's private hiking journal, allowing them to track their progress over time.

The summit history would only be visible to the authenticated user. No Strava derived data would be sold or shared with other users.

My main questions regarding the Strava API Policy (Sections 5.4, 5.5, 5.7 and 6.2):

  1. Is comparing GPS tracks obtained through the Strava API against an existing database of mountain peaks considered permitted data processing?

  2. If the original GPS tracks are deleted after processing, can the detected summit IDs and visit dates be stored permanently as derived data?

  3. Alternatively, would storing GPS tracks and summit history while the user's Strava account remains connected be permitted, provided all associated data is deleted upon disconnection?

  4. Would this type of personal summit-tracking functionality be eligible for API access beyond the initial user limit?

I'm particularly interested in understanding whether storing only the detected summit IDs and visit dates, rather than the original GPS tracks, would comply with Strava's API policies.

I want to ensure the integration is fully compliant before investing time in development.

Any clarification from the Strava team or developers who have implemented similar features would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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