US military disabled ad tracking on troops’ devices following reports of targeted attacks
The U.S. Department of Defense has disabled advertising tracking on government-issued devices to prevent foreign adversaries from using location data to target military personnel. This move follows reports that hostile actors were exploiting commercially available data to track troops in the Middle East.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing national security risks posed by the commercial data broker industry and the vulnerability of military personnel to digital surveillance.
The U.S. Department of Defense has disabled advertising tracking on troops’ phones and computers as part of an effort to protect them from threats that target their locations, according to a letter shared with Sen. Ron Wyden.
Per a letter shared with the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Wyden said that the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command have all disabled advertising tracking across their government-issued devices.
This includes the departments’ iPhones and Android devices, and Windows computers managed across the federal military enterprise network, the letter said.
Reuters, which first reported the news and the letters , said the military rolled out the protections earlier this year. The Air Force told Wyden it implemented its changes more recently in July.
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