Troops’ phones gave away location data to foreign adversaries

The Pentagon has confirmed that foreign adversaries have exploited commercial geolocation data linked to U.S. troops, using it to target or surveil personnel deployed in the Middle East. This revelation came after lawmakers, including Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Pat Harrigan, pressed the Department of Defense (DoD) for greater transparency and tighter controls over smartphone security within military operations. The information, initially restricted from public release, was disclosed in a letter to DoD Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies, highlighting vulnerabilities in how location data from military personnel’s smartphones is handled. According to the DoD, adversaries obtained troop location data through commercial data brokers by accessing smartphone advertising profiles, which are widely available for purchase. Despite the risks, there is currently no strict policy requiring service members to disable geolocation features on personal devices in active war zones. The DoD’s guidance instructs personnel to disable location services when not needed and to review privacy settings, but acknowledges these measures do not fully prevent location tracking. Furthermore, government-issued smartphones do not completely block the transmission of advertising identifiers, which can still reveal location information. The letter from lawmakers underscores the urgency of addressing these security gaps, as the exploitation of commercial location data poses a direct threat to troop safety and operational security. The DoD has indicated it is working on migrating to a new mobile device management (MDM) system designed to fully disable location services on government-issued devices, with a target completion date in the near future. However, critics argue that current policies and technological safeguards remain insufficient to protect sensitive military movements from foreign surveillance. This issue highlights broader concerns about the intersection of commercial data collection and national security, especially as adversaries increasingly leverage open-source and commercially available information to gain tactical advantages. The lawmakers’ push for enhanced smartphone controls reflects a growing recognition that protecting service members requires not only battlefield readiness but also robust cybersecurity and data privacy measures.