U.S. military turns off ad trackers on devices amid West Asia targeting reports
The U.S. military has disabled advertising trackers on its mobile devices and computers to prevent the exploitation of location data by foreign adversaries. This move follows concerns that data brokers were selling information that could be used to target American personnel in West Asia.
Why it matters
This highlights the intersection of national security and the commercial data economy, where personal location data poses a significant risk to military operations.
U.S. military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday (September 4, 2026) by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and statements given to Reuters , a development that follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in West Asia.
The Air Force told Mr. Wyden it disabled the advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones two months ago. U.S. Special Operations Command said in a separate letter that it had “recently” disabled them on its Windows devices. The Army told Reuters that advertising IDs tied to mobile devices had been disabled since earlier this year.
Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has pressed the Pentagon on the issue for months.
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