US Military Disables Tracking Features on Devices Amid Iran Espionage Fears
The U.S. military has disabled various tracking mechanisms on its personnel's phones and computers to prevent adversaries, including Iran, from locating American forces. This action comes in response to reports that commercial location data, gathered by advertising technology and sold by data brokers, has been used to track U.S. troops in the Middle East. The Air Force informed Senator Ron Wyden two months ago that it had disabled advertising identifiers on mobile devices and computers. The U.S. Special Operations Command recently took similar steps for Windows-based devices. The military confirmed to Reuters that location identifiers related to mobile advertising were disabled earlier this year.
These revelations highlight a growing national security concern: the potential for location data, collected by the advertising industry, to be exploited for surveillance and targeting of military personnel in combat zones. While the Air Force and Special Operations Command declined to comment, the Army and Marine Corps also informed Senator Wyden that they had revoked the use of advertising identifiers on military devices, though the exact timing of these restrictions was not specified. The military stated that advertising identifiers on Windows computers were blocked before 2021, but on Android and Apple mobile devices, the default option was only canceled as of February 2026 at the earliest.
The effort to curb location data from smartphones is part of broader considerations within the military to impose stricter rules on phone usage. In July, Reuters reported that some U.S. personnel in the Middle East might be required to surrender their phones due to fears that uploaded videos could have aided Iran in identifying American bases in the region. Senators Wyden and Pat Harrigan have urged the Pentagon to investigate the military's handling of location data trading risks. Wyden stated that the military's efforts to neutralize this threat have been ineffective, while Harrigan emphasized that U.S. adversaries should not be able to purchase information that aids in tracking American forces.
