Military Personnel Targeted by Commercial Location Data
U.S. military personnel in combat zones are facing risks from readily available location data, as indicated by a report from military sources, which highlights the evolving nature of warfare driven by a global surveillance economy.
A letter to Reuters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, revealed that U.S. Central Command (Centcom) had “received multiple threat reports” about adversaries potentially misusing commercial location data to track U.S. troops. While the April 14 communication didn’t elaborate further, Centcom operates in the Gulf region, an area where U.S. and Iranian forces maintain a tense presence.
Senator Wyden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers expressed in their recent correspondence with the Pentagon that this is the first formal acknowledgment of U.S. troops being targeted in an active combat environment.
The letter stressed that “commercial location data can reveal where U.S. forces are concentrated,” which can be exploited to target military assets like missiles and drones. Wyden remarked that it’s crucial to view the advertising technology sector as a national security concern.
Despite attempts, the Pentagon did not respond to inquiries for comment. Lawmakers stated their efforts to gather more information from military officials about these reported threats were unsuccessful.
Location data is commonly utilized in digital marketing and contributes significantly to the revenue streams of tech companies. This information is often collected from smartphones and devices by various apps and sold to data brokers, who subsequently resell the data through a complicated web of intermediaries.
The privacy issues associated with selling personal movement data have long been debated, but recently, concerns about its implications for national security have intensified.
In 2016, a reported incident highlighted how a U.S. defense contractor tracked special operations forces using off-the-shelf location data from their bases in the U.S. to undisclosed military locations in Syria.
Moreover, recent investigations by journalists revealed that billions of data points collected by brokers detailed the movements of individuals near 11 U.S. military and intelligence installations in Germany.
Organizations representing digital advertisers, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the National Association of Advertisers, did not respond to requests for comments regarding these concerns.
The lawmakers expressed in their letter that more proactive measures were needed to safeguard military personnel, considering the known risks associated with trading location data. Recommendations included disabling unique advertising IDs on military devices, automatically disabling location-sharing features on smartphones in the field, and encouraging personnel to switch from Google’s Chrome browser to more privacy-oriented alternatives.
One of the letter’s co-signers, U.S. Representative Pat Harrigan, a Republican from North Carolina and a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, stated that web browsers like Chrome are “designed to collect and share user data.” He emphasized that keeping such browsers on government devices poses ongoing risks to troops.
In response, Google asserted that Chrome provides “industry-leading security” and stated its support for stricter regulations to protect data brokers.
