Pentagon restricts fitness devices
WASHINGTON — Military troops and other defense personnel at sensitive bases or certain high-risk war zone areas won’t be allowed to use fitness tracker or cellphone applications that can reveal their location, according to a new Pentagon order.
The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, stops short of banning the fitness trackers or other electronic devices, which are often linked to cellphone applications or smartwatches and can provide the users’ GPS and exercise details to social media. It says the applications on personal or governmentissued devices present a “significant risk” to military personnel so those capabilities must be turned off in certain operational areas.
Under the new order, military leaders will be able to determine whether troops under their command can use the GPS function on their devices, based on the security threat in that area or on that base.
“These geolocation capabilities can expose personal information, locations, routines, and numbers of DOD personnel, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission,” the memo said.
Defense personnel who aren’t in sensitive areas will be able to use the GPS applications, if the commanders conclude it doesn’t present a risk. For example, troops exercising at major military bases around the country, such at Fort Hood in Texas or Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia, would likely be able to use the location software on their phones or fitness devices. Troops on missions in more sensitive locations, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or parts of Africa, meanwhile, would be restricted from using the devices or be required to turn off any location function.
Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said it’s a move to ensure the enemy can’t
easily target U.S. forces.
“It goes back to making sure that we’re not giving the enemy an unfair advantage and we’re not showcasing the exact locations of our troops worldwide,” Manning said.
Concerns about exercise trackers and other electronic devices came to a head in January in the wake of revelations that an interactive, online map was pinpointing troop locations, bases and other
sensitive areas around the world.
The Global Heat Map, published by the GPS tracking company Strava, used satellite information to map the locations of subscribers to Strava’s fitness service. At the time, the map showed activity from 2015 through September 2017.
And while heavily populated areas were well lit, warzones such as Iraq and Syria show scattered pockets of activity that could denote military or government personnel using fitness trackers as they move around.