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The details were reported by Reuters, based on letters released by US Senator Ron Wyden and statements from the military.
US troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division wait at Green Ramp before they head out for a deployment to the Middle East. (File pic: Getty Images via AFP)
The US military has disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers used by its personnel, amid growing concerns that commercially collected location data could be used to track American troops, particularly those deployed in the Middle East.
The details were reported by Reutersbased on letters released by US Senator Ron Wyden and statements from the military.
The US Air Force told Wyden that advertising identifiers had been switched off on its computers and mobile phones around two months ago.
US Special Operations Command said it had also recently disabled the identifiers on Windows devices, while the Army said advertising IDs on mobile devices had been blocked since earlier this year.
How Phone Data Can Expose Troops?
The move highlights a wider security concern over the huge amount of location information generated by smartphones.
Mobile advertising IDs, or MAIDs, are unique identifiers that allow companies to follow activity across apps and build detailed information about a device’s location. Data brokers can collect and sell such information to other parties, raising concerns that sensitive details about military personnel could potentially be obtained without direct access to military systems.
According to ReutersWyden, a Democrat from Oregon, has been pressing the Pentagon over the issue for months. He and Republican Representative Pat Harrigan have now asked the Pentagon to investigate whether the military has done enough to deal with the risks linked to the commercial location-data market.
Wyden said the steps taken so far had not been enough to neutralise the threat, while Harrigan warned that US adversaries should not be able to buy information that could help locate American troops.
Middle East Deployment Raises Extra Concerns
The issue has gained particular attention because of concerns over US forces stationed in the Middle East.
Reuters reported in July that some deployed personnel in the region could face tighter restrictions on smartphone use, including being asked to surrender their phones.
The concern was that videos and other material posted online could provide information that might help Iran identify and target US military positions.
Disabling advertising IDs is intended to reduce one source of location information. Privacy expert Zach Edwards told Reuters that the measure was a positive step because it could prevent military device locations from entering large-scale commercial data sales.
However, he warned that switching off advertising IDs does not make a device impossible to track. Other technical information, app data and network signals could potentially be combined to identify a device’s location.
The Pentagon has said it will respond directly to Wyden and Harrigan, while some military branches declined to comment further.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Ask News18The US military disabled advertising trackers on its devices due to concerns that commercially collected location data could be used to track American troops, especially those deployed in the Middle East. This measure aims to prevent military device locations from entering large-scale commercial data sales, which adversaries could exploit to target personnel.
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