U.S. troops stationed overseas must remember to turn off GPS tracking services on their favorite wearable fitness device. That's an order.
The U.S. Department of Defense has issued an order requiring all troops in war zones or on military bases abroad to immediately disable all GPS tracking devices, including phones, smartwatches, fitness wearables, and any device with geolocation services.
The order came as a result of a recent Pentagon review of GPS tracking devices and fitness apps that found the apps had tracked the movements of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Syria.
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“These geolocation capabilities can reveal personal information, locations, routines, and numbers of DOD personnel, potentially creating unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint forces and missions,” the Pentagon order said.
Earlier this year, Strava, the fitness tracking platform used by wearable devices like Fitbit, released a global heatmap with a record of all activity tracked through the service. Patterns, routines, locations, and more were logged and stored on the global heatmap. This included activities recorded at U.S. military bases.
It later emerged that Strava was not the only fitness tracking service that revealed the location and activities of US soldiers overseas. Researchers discovered that the fitness app Polar Flow revealed similar details about its users.
The Defense Department's order does not ban devices, wearables and fitness trackers; it simply requires that geolocation services be turned off. The memo also allows military commanders to decide when they can be used.
With nearly every device now having geo-tracking capabilities, it's a natural fit to ensure the safety of troops overseas. But given the sheer number of these devices (see: every smartphone), enforcement could prove difficult.
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