U.S. military officials have disabled advertising trackers on a range of mobile phones and computers following reports that commercially available location data was used to target American forces in the Middle East, according to letters released Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden and statements to Reuters.
The Air Force told Wyden that it disabled advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones about two months ago. U.S. Special Operations Command said in a separate letter that it had “recently” disabled the identifiers on its Windows devices.
The Army told Reuters that advertising IDs associated with mobile devices have been disabled since earlier this year.
The disclosures came after Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, spent months pressing the Pentagon over the potential national security risks posed by commercially collected location data.
The issue centers on advertising identifiers that can help companies track devices and build detailed profiles of users. Data brokers can then collect, aggregate and sell that information, potentially making sensitive location data available to buyers.
