US military disables ad trackers over fears location data targeting troops in Middle East: Report

The US military has disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers following reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East, according to letters released by Senator Ron Wyden and statements to Reuters.The Air Force told Wyden it disabled the advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones two months ago. US Special Operations Command said it had "recently" disabled them on its Windows devices, while the Army told Reuters that advertising IDs tied to mobile devices had been disabled since earlier this year.The disclosures highlight a growing national security concern: that location data collected by the advertising industry and sold by data brokers can be used to track and target military personnel deployed to war zones.Mobile advertising IDs are unique identifiers tied to specific devices that can track a person's activity across mobile apps and pinpoint their physical location. In July, Reuters reported that some deployed personnel in the Middle East could be ordered to surrender their phones amid concerns that mobile videos they were posting were helping Iran target American bases.Wyden and Representative Pat Harrigan sent a letter to the Pentagon asking for an investigation into whether the military had properly countered the dangers of the location data trade. Wyden said it was clear that the military's efforts "have not been effective at neutralizing this threat." Harrigan said US enemies "should not be able to pull out a credit card and buy information that helps them track American troops."Zach Edwards, co-founder of privacy ad tech company Decryptads, said disabling MAID on military devices was "definitely a positive thing," though he cautioned that personnel might still be tracked through apps in other ways.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.