US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid reports data used to target forces in Middle East

The United States military has disabled advertising trackers on mobile devices following reports that location data gathered by the advertising industry and sold by data brokers was being used to track and target personnel deployed in the Middle East. This measure aims to mitigate security risks posed by the commercial sale of precise movement data.

The move highlights a broader national security concern regarding the vulnerability of military forces to surveillance through the commercial data ecosystem. By restricting these trackers, the military seeks to prevent adversaries from leveraging information collated and resold by third-party brokers to identify and target troops stationed in sensitive regions.