WASHINGTON: The US military has disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers after reports that commercially available location data could help adversaries track American forces deployed in the Middle East.
According to letters released by Senator Ron Wyden and statements to Reuters, the Air Force disabled advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones two months ago. Meanwhile, US Special Operations Command said it had recently blocked them on Windows devices.
The Army told Reuters that mobile advertising IDs had been disabled on its devices since earlier this year.
Location Data Trade Raises National Security Concerns
Advertising identifiers can help companies track activity across applications and, in some cases, connect devices with physical locations. Consequently, military officials fear that data brokers could sell information capable of exposing troop movements.
The Army said advertising IDs had been blocked on Windows computers since before 2021, while Android and Apple devices had them disabled by default since at least February 2026.
Moreover, the Navy and Army told Wyden that they had disabled advertising IDs on military devices, although some details about timing remained unclear.
Lawmakers Seek Pentagon Investigation Into Data Risks
Wyden and Republican Representative Pat Harrigan asked the Pentagon to investigate whether the military had adequately addressed threats linked to commercial location data.
Wyden said existing measures had not fully neutralised the risk, while Harrigan warned that US adversaries should not be able to purchase information that could help track American troops.
Meanwhile, military officials are also considering tighter restrictions on personal phone use in operational areas.
Privacy expert Zach Edwards welcomed the disabling of mobile advertising IDs, saying it could reduce the likelihood of military location data appearing in bulk commercial datasets.
However, he cautioned that other techniques could still allow tracking through applications, network data and technical device information.
