The U.S. Department of Defense has disabled advertising tracking on government-issued phones and computers across all military branches, a move aimed at shielding troops from adversaries who have used commercially obtained location data to target them, according to a letter shared with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Wyden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command have all disabled advertising tracking on their devices. The protections cover iPhones, Android devices, and Windows computers managed across the federal military enterprise network, the letter said. Reuters first reported the news and the letters.
Also read: Judge blocks X rival from using Twitter name, but allows ‘Tweet’ for now
Why the Pentagon pulled the plug on ad IDs
The military rolled out the changes earlier this year, with the Air Force implementing its updates more recently in July. The goal is straightforward: prevent hostile governments and other adversaries from using location data harvested from apps on troops’ devices to track them on the battlefield or at their bases.
Location data collected by phone apps is routinely shared with third-party companies and data brokers, which then sell it on the open commercial market. By disabling the advertising identifier — a unique string of numbers that lets ad networks recognize a specific device — the military makes it significantly harder to tie that location data back to an individual service member. The data then blends in with the broader population of users who have also turned off ad tracking.
Also read: GoPro agrees to $285M merger with Starman Optical, pivoting toward defense and photonics
Wyden raised the issue earlier this year in a letter to military leaders after discovering that unnamed foreign adversaries had targeted U.S. troops in the Middle East using commercially obtained location data. The senator, a longtime privacy advocate, had pressed the Pentagon for details on what steps it was taking to address the vulnerability.
A partial fix, with lingering risks
While Wyden called the move to reduce ad tracking “commendable,” he cautioned that it does not go far enough. In his statement, he warned that personal devices belonging to troops and contractors — which are often brought onto military bases — could still expose service members and facilities to attack. Those personal phones and laptops are not covered by the Pentagon’s directive, leaving a potential gap that adversaries could exploit.
The concern is not hypothetical. The U.S. intelligence community and the FBI have both confirmed that they purchase commercial location data for surveillance and intelligence purposes without a warrant, underscoring how easily such information can be obtained and weaponized. If American agencies can buy this data, so can foreign governments.
The military’s decision reflects a growing recognition across the federal government that commercially available data poses a real national security threat. In recent years, the Department of Defense has tightened rules around data sharing and geolocation, but this is one of the first broad, coordinated actions to disable ad tracking across all branches simultaneously.
Privacy advocates have long warned that the data broker industry operates with minimal oversight, and that location information is particularly sensitive because it can reveal a person’s movements, habits, and associations. For military personnel, the stakes are even higher — a data broker selling location pings could inadvertently hand an adversary the coordinates of a forward operating base or a service member’s off-duty residence.
For now, the Pentagon’s action is a significant step toward reducing that risk on government-issued hardware. But as Wyden noted, the broader ecosystem of personal devices and third-party apps remains a vulnerability. Troops and contractors who carry personal phones onto secure facilities could still be tracked, and the military has yet to announce any plans to address that gap.
The development comes amid a broader government push to scrutinize the commercial data market. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced bills to restrict data broker sales of sensitive location information, though none have yet become law. In the meantime, the military’s move may set a precedent for other federal agencies that handle sensitive operations.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The cybersecurity and technology markets are subject to rapid change and uncertainty.
Warning: Attempt to read property "term_id" on false in /www/wwwroot/stockpil.com/wp-content/themes/flex-mag/functions.php on line 998
