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US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid Middle East targeting reports: Reuters
The move follows reports that commercially available location data was used to target American forces, and lawmakers are seeking a Pentagon review.
- On Friday, U.S. military officials confirmed they have disabled advertising trackers on phones and computers, following reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in West Asia.
- Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Pat Harrigan demanded an investigation into the location data trade, as military officials weigh broader restrictions on phone use to protect personnel from tracking by foreign adversaries.
- The Army has blocked mobile ad IDs since at least February 2026, while the Air Force disabled identifiers two months ago and Special Operations Command acted "recently" on Windows devices.
- Privacy expert Zach Edwards of Decryptads called the move "definitely a positive thing," noting the restrictions "will essentially ensure their location isn't being included in bulk data sales being done by numerous vendors."
- Despite these updates, Senator Wyden argued the military's efforts "have not been effective at neutralizing this threat," while Representative Harrigan insisted adversaries "should not be able to pull out a credit card and buy information" to track troops.
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Branches in the U.S. military have disabled advertising and tracking devices on telephones and military devices to reduce the risk of troop tracking, amid requests from Congress to investigate the adequacy of procedures.
U.S. military turns off ad trackers on devices amid West Asia targeting reports
The disclosures highlight a growing national security concern: that location data collected by the advertising industry and sold by data brokers — companies that collate and resell personal data — can be used to track and target military personnel deployed to war zones
·Chennai, India
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US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid reports data used to target forces in Middle East
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.
·Jerusalem, Israel
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Total News Sources19
Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Center
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources are Center
46% Center
L 27%
C 46%
R 27%
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