U.S. military disables ad trackers on devices over threat of attack targeting
The U.S. military disabled ad trackers on some phones and computers after reports that commercially available location data was used to target U.S. forces in the Middle East.
The U.S. military has disabled ad trackers on some phones and computers due to concerns that commercially available location data was being used to target U.S. forces in the Middle East. The Air Force, Special Operations Command, and Army all confirmed disabling advertising identifiers on military devices earlier this year. In a letter to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, the branches disclosed that advertising identifiers on Windows computers were blocked since before 2021, while those on Android and Apple mobile devices were disabled by default at least since February 2026.
Senators Wyden and Rep. Pat Harrigan have requested an investigation into whether the military has effectively addressed the risks posed by the trade in location data. They argue that adversaries should not be able to purchase information that helps track American service members. The Pentagon stated it would respond directly to the lawmakers.
Written by urgent.news from New Voice of Ukraine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
