Several branches and commands of the U.S. military have disabled advertising identifiers on government phones and computers following threat reports that foreign adversaries were using commercially available location data to track or target American personnel in the Middle East.
The changes were disclosed in military letters released Friday by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and in statements provided to Reuters.
The Air Force told Wyden that it disabled advertising identifiers on its computers and mobile phones approximately two months ago. U.S. Special Operations Command said it had “recently” disabled them on its Windows devices.
The Army told Reuters that advertising identifiers on Army-managed mobile devices have been disabled since earlier this year. It said the identifiers had been blocked on Windows computers since before 2021 but were disabled by default on Army-managed Apple and Android devices beginning no later than February 2026.
The Navy also told Wyden that it disables mobile advertising identifiers within its secure application environment on government-furnished equipment.
A Tracking Number Built Into The Device
A mobile advertising identifier, often abbreviated as MAID, is a unique number associated with a particular phone or other device.
Advertising companies use the identifier to follow activity across applications and measure the effectiveness of advertisements. When connected with location information collected by applications, it can help identify a device’s physical movements.
Data brokers aggregate and resell commercially collected information. That means an adversary may be able to obtain sensitive location records through a commercial transaction instead of breaking into a military network.
Disabling an advertising identifier can interrupt one part of that tracking process, but it does not make a device invisible. Applications and brokers may still use other technical information, network data, or location permissions to follow a device.
CENTCOM Received Multiple Threat Reports
The military changes follow months of pressure from lawmakers concerned that commercially traded information could endanger service members.
U.S. Central Command told Congress in April that it had received “multiple threat reports” concerning adversaries’ use of commercial location data to target or surveil U.S. personnel during Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, according to a May 28 congressional letter.
CENTCOM said its Threat Fusion Cell identified and monitored the threats before distributing assessments to force-protection officials.
The government has not publicly identified the suspected adversaries or said that the commercially obtained information enabled a successful attack. The disclosure confirms that military officials considered the data a potential operational threat.
Lawmakers warned that location records could reveal where troops congregate and establish their “pattern of life.” That information could potentially help an adversary plan surveillance, counterintelligence operations, or attacks using missiles, drones, or roadside bombs.
The bipartisan May letter was signed by 14 lawmakers, including Republican Texas Reps. Keith Self and Michael Cloud.
Lawmakers Seek Pentagon Investigation
Wyden and U.S. Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) sent another letter Friday asking the Pentagon to investigate whether the military had adequately addressed the dangers posed by commercially sold location data, according to a Reuters report published by The Jerusalem Post.
Harrigan said U.S. adversaries “should not be able to pull out a credit card and buy information that helps them track American troops.”
Wyden said the military’s efforts “have not been effective at neutralizing this threat.”
The Pentagon told Reuters that it would respond directly to the lawmakers.
The National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have both recommended disabling advertising identifiers, according to the lawmakers’ letter.
The Same Technology Tracks Civilian Phones
The advertising infrastructure involved is not exclusive to military devices. Civilian smartphones use the same types of identifiers and applications.
Android users can delete their advertising identifier by opening Settings, selecting Privacy and then Ads, and choosing “Delete Advertising ID,” according to Google’s instructions.
Apple users can review or withdraw applications’ permission to track their activity by opening Settings, selecting Privacy & Security and then Tracking, according to Apple.
These settings, however, do not prevent every form of digital tracking, particularly when an application has separate permission to access a phone’s location.
Provided by Dallas Express
