Posted on 05/31/2026 6:47:24 AM PDT by Salman
Getting the location of troops at war might be as easy as buying the data from a legitimate business. America’s foreign adversaries have exploited commercial geolocation data tied to US troops, the Pentagon admits, using it to target or surveil US personnel in the Middle East. Despite that, the Defense Department hasn’t exactly moved fast to secure the information, elected officials say.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Representative Pat Harrigan (R-NC), and a dozen other Congress critters sent a letter to DoD CIO Kirsten Davies on Thursday, demanding a change in smartphone security posture among US military branches. Included in the letter is what lawmakers describe as the first public confirmation that commercial location data has been used to target or surveil American troops in active war zones. The information was shared with Wyden’s office in April.
The reason for the delay in publishing the information, Wyden’s team told The Register, was due to “markings that restricted public release,” which Wyden reportedly pushed back on, leading to Thursday’s letter and the attached responses [PDF] from the DoD confirming info purchased from commercial data brokers was used to target troops.
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They need to drill into the troops the many instances of major strikes done by Ukraine aerial weapons against Russian targets exposed by the use of their phones and gadgets.
There are dramatic, emotionally convincing photos and perhaps video of commanders, units, and training classes being hit because of these individuals use of devices, even high ranking and important officers giving away their location and being killed.
Young GIs can retain the lesson if these impactful images and tales are used, and of course implement severe no exception penalties once a directive is issued.
But they don’t dare let people buy non-tracking phones.
You think they haven’t thought of this?
(1) Our troops should not have anything except secure phones/comms in the field. (2) Lots of room for great counter-intel/spoofing and other fun games here.
Thought of it and already using it we should hope. They ARE using AI for war planning.
And hope they don’t have access to CCP or Russian satellite data. Leak the fake stats to the IRGC or nearest Democrat:
‘wow. . look at all those US troops now massing near the Houthi territory’
‘wow . .look at all those Pentagon Pizza orders. .’
Meanwhile, we’re really at . . .
That is not giving targeting info with precision to destroy MQ-9 drones. We all know where that information is coming from 3rd parties. Will POTUS do anything about it? Apparently, not.
I heard MLB track cell users coming to games. Aiding them is the mandated ticket on your phone apps. Sell data contributing to 24/7 marketing to your phones days later
Barcode on app to get in is allpart of the scheme
After triangulating the location of the young women, the CO sent a scout, verified there was a major Norwegian field HQ there, and called in a (theoretical) artillery strike, destroying it.
The Norwegians were allowed by the umpires to move, and reactivate, their HQ, and after that was done, bored Norwegian women got out their phones, opened their hookup apps, and a new artillery strike was called in.
This time the Norwegian senior officers were incensed. The Americans could not possibly have located their HQ that quickly with the just assets involved in the exercise, and so must be cheating!
The Norwegians moved their HQ yet again, but suspecting that perhaps the Americans were somehow monitoring, and triangulating on, their field radios, the communications equipment was not set up. Which meant the young women had their phones out, and hookup app on, even sooner, and the next artillery strike came minutes later.
Good story. Would not bet my life it is true. But it certainly illustrates a true threat.
Here’s an idea... When you go to war, leave the cellphones at home.
SiliconValley could sell DoWar enough secure phones over the weekend. Just ban all other smartphones from the area and issue DoWar versions. Phone companies will continue to get the same business, but not over insecure phones they peddle to American citizens (aka idiots).
If Google can track you, so can the enemy.
Bad as smoking at night on guard duty.
Whenever I don’t need my phone...I made an envelope from 6” roll of soft lead (roofing flashing) I slip the phone in and its useless to anyone and I take it out when needed ...very simple .
Theres a reason that you cant easily remove the battery.
Hey, THAT is a brillaint idea! Why don't you invent one, because they don't exist because commercial cell service as it now exists requires that your phone be uniquely identifiable.
You don't get cell service without a subscription. Your phone has to identify itself to a cell tower by its unique IMSI, IMEI, or MAC so the provider can confirm that device has paid for service.
Worse still, cell phones are constantly pinging to determine which cell tower offers the best service so you can get through almost instantly if need be, and these "handshake" transactions can be intercepted. So your phone by design rats you out every step you take.
Some of the more sophisticated phone ROMS will 'spoof' the MAC addresses for WiFi and Bluetooth but that is no help for handshaking or what is known as the "geolocation problem."
All these years later that is still happening and in a real and bloody European war, the first year or two I thought it was a deadly mistake and the Russians would fix it, but this year there are more examples, and examples in the American military as well, even including elite soldiers being tracked through their (exercise?) watches and GIs still revealing locations through phones even on ships, and your example is a decade old.
What is going on that militaries can not only not stop it, but why aren’t they keeping some of the new tech such as those watches from ever being adopted by GIs, are these such a part of everyone’s lives that even military leadership can’t bring themselves to eliminate these luxuries and be harsh about them and classify them as not a part of military life.
In an active combat zone, there are generally no truly safe locations for standard cell phone use without strict operational security (OPSEC) protocols.
Adversaries use commercial tracking data, cell tower triangulation, and signal interceptors to locate personnel. Even with GPS disabled, phones constantly transmit metadata that can compromise a position.
Strict adherence to the following guidelines is necessary to prevent compromising a location:
1. Hardened Military Facilities (Under Command Policy)Approved access points: The only authorized zones are inside highly secured forward operating bases or headquarters where leadership explicitly permits usage and has authorized network traffic routing.SCIFs excluded: Cell phones are strictly prohibited in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) or near classified equipment.
2. Officially Regulated “Morale” ZonesMilitary-run networks: Safe communication can only occur in designated areas, such as a localized USO or morale center. These facilities use private, secure telephone networks rather than commercial cellular infrastructure.
3. Non-Combat Zones (Rear Echelon or Transit)Areas well outside the frontline hostilities (e.g., transit hubs or support bases in allied countries) may be safe for basic, commercial cell phone use, but this is always subject to local command policy and ongoing threat assessments.
To ensure safety when phone use is permitted:
Disable all location services: The Department of Defense prohibits using geolocation features, fitness trackers, and location-tagged apps in any designated operational area.
Use a Faraday bag: When not in use, store your device in a Faraday Bag—an anti-tracking pouch that blocks all wireless signals to prevent tracking and data.
Obey “River City”: Be prepared for command to order total communications blackouts (often called “River City”) during sensitive operations or when OPSEC is at risk.
Many of these rules have been in existence since the ear 2000’s. This isn’t new.
wy69
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