Pentagon Bans Fitness And GPS Trackers For Deployed Personnel

The Pentagon is banning the use of GPS on mobile devices in operational areas, saying that fitness trackers and smartphones pose a "significant risk" to U.S. military personnel. The move bars deployed service members from using the devices unless commanders have granted an exception.

"Effective immediately, DoD personnel are prohibited" from using geolocation apps and features, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan wrote in a memo to all service leaders on Monday.

The move comes six months after the location and movements of U.S. troops were included in a usage map published by the Strava fitness tracking company. The global map reflected more than 1 billion paths that the Strava app tracked – but patterns and locations of American service members could be gleaned from zooming in on sensitive or secured areas.

Other services have similar usage maps, or the data they collect might be available to other app users or online.

"These geolocation capabilities can expose personal information, locations, routines, and numbers of DoD personnel," Shanahan wrote, "and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission."

The new Pentagon policy allows commanding officers to let military personnel use geolocation technology if the commanders determine it doesn't pose a threat – or if a mission requires the use of GPS apps. As for the areas the ban covers, the Pentagon says it considers deployed personnel to be in "operational areas" — and that commanders should also consider applying the ban to other areas under their responsibility.

The policy also calls for training U.S. personnel to use the technology without exposing themselves of their comrades to potential harm — training that will likely include advice to turn off data-sharing options in fitness apps.

By placing a partial ban on the devices, the Pentagon is in a sense warning against overusing its own technology. It was the Department of Defense, after all, that developed and built the web of navigation satellites that became the NAVSTAR GPS system.

The military has maintained control of the GPS system. But Shanahan acknowledged that as a "rapidly evolving market" of geolocation devices and apps have changed how GPS is used, it has also brought new potential for security vulnerabilities.

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