- US military branches disable ad tracking on government‑issued devices after warning
- Location data from personal devices still poses risks; past data remains for sale
- Senators urge DoD inspector general to review policies and stop servicemember data exposure
More than 20 years ago, Jason Bourne was smashing mobile phones to prevent being tracked by his adversaries - and the US Department of Defense (DoD) has realized it should probably do something similar.
In May 2026, Senator Ron Wyden mailed the DoD (among others), informing the agency that foreign powers were using commercial location data to target US troops - and now, Wyden has shared the responses he received from the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command, all of which have disabled advertising tracking across their government-issued devices, including Apple and Android smartphones, and Windows computers.
Some branches did it earlier this year, while the Air Force allegedly concluded the efforts in July 2026 - and while Wyden praised the move, he also suggested it is not enough, and that further steps must be taken in order to protect US troops stationed abroad.
Evaluating the leaked files
“We commend these service branches for implementing this cybersecurity defensive best practice on government devices,” Wyden and Senator Pat Harrigan wrote. “However, recent reports regarding the continued availability of commercial location data originating from DoD facilities raise troubling questions.”
Apparently, despite disabling these features and placing the troops out of reach of data brokers and similar commercial entities, the data that was gathered earlier remains available for sale, which still presents a risk.
“The members suggested data could continue to be available for several reasons, including that commercial data available originates from personal devices, not government phones, that are carried by servicemembers and government contractors,” a report on Wyden’s website reads.
“Wyden and Harrigan called on the DOD inspector general to examine commercial location data that DOD and other government agencies have already purchased to determine why existing policies have not prevented servicemembers location data from being sold online, and to recommend policy changes to better protect US personnel.”
Via TechCrunch
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