US Military Disables Ad Trackers Amid Targeting Concerns

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. This action follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East. The Air Force stated it disabled advertising identifiers on its devices in July, while U.S. Special Operations Command said it had recently disabled them on its Windows devices. The Army indicated that advertising IDs tied to mobile devices had been disabled since earlier this year, with Windows computers having restrictions in place since before 2021.

Senator Ron Wyden, a privacy advocate, and Representative Pat Harrigan have sent a letter to the Pentagon requesting an investigation into whether the military has adequately addressed the dangers posed by the location data trade. Wyden expressed that the military's efforts have not been effective in neutralizing this threat, and Harrigan stated that adversaries should not be able to purchase information to track U.S. troops. The Pentagon has stated it will respond directly to the lawmakers. Mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) are unique identifiers that track user activity and physical location across apps. Experts suggest these restrictions are positive for ensuring location data is not included in bulk sales, though tracking may still occur through more complex methods.