US military disables advertising identifiers on official devices
Units of the US Armed Forces have disabled advertising identifiers on some official phones and computers following reports that commercially available geolocation data had been used to track US military personnel in the Middle East. The Jerusalem Post reports, citing letters released by Senator Ron Wyden and officials’ statements to Reuters.
Restrictions on military devices
The US Air Force told Wyden that it disabled advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones two months ago. US Special Operations Command said in a separate letter that it had recently disabled them on Windows devices.
The US Army told Reuters that advertising identifiers associated with mobile devices were disabled earlier this year. According to the Army, such identifiers have been blocked on Windows computers since before 2021, while they have been disabled by default on Android and Apple mobile devices since at least February 2026.
Letters from the US Army and Navy to Wyden also referred to disabling advertising identifiers on military devices, but did not specify when the restrictions were introduced. The Air Force and Special Operations Command declined further comment, while the Navy did not respond to journalists’ inquiries.
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Risks of geodata trading
Mobile advertising identifiers, or MAIDs, are unique codes that can be used to track a person’s activity in apps and determine their physical location. The advertising industry collects location data, while data brokers aggregate and resell personal data. As the publication notes, such information can be used to track and select military personnel as targets in combat zones.
Wyden and US House of Representatives member Pat Harrigan asked the Pentagon to investigate whether the military had adequately addressed the risks associated with geolocation data trading. Wyden said the measures taken by the military had not made it possible to neutralize this threat. Harrigan stressed that US adversaries should not be able to buy information that helps track American military personnel.
Other methods of tracking
Zak Edwards, co-founder of Decryptads, called disabling MAIDs on devices used by military personnel a positive step. According to him, this should reduce the likelihood of location data ending up in bulk data sales, but service members may still be tracked through apps in more complex ways, including by matching device technical data with network data or location information.
