Exclusive: US military disables ad trackers on devices amid Middle East targeting reports

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Military Response to Ad Trackers":"The Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the Army have all taken steps to disable advertising identifiers on their devices. The Air Force disabled them two months ago, while the Special Operations Command and Army have disabled them since earlier this year. The Army stated that advertising IDs had been blocked on Windows computers since before 2021, but Android and Apple mobile devices had only had it disabled by default since at least February 2026. The Navy has not responded to inquiries about their efforts.","

National Security Concerns":"The development underscores the growing concern that location data collected by the advertising industry and sold by data brokers can be used to track and target military personnel deployed to war zones. This has led to discussions about the need for stricter restrictions on phone use overall, with some personnel being ordered to surrender their phones amid concerns that mobile videos they were posting to the internet were helping Iran target American bases in the region.","

Legislative Action":"U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Pat Harrigan have sent a letter to the Pentagon requesting an investigation into whether the military had properly countered the dangers of the location data trade. They highlighted the updates from the various service branches on their efforts to disable advertising IDs on military devices."}