DoD Bans Location Tracking Apps, Fitness Trackers, & Smartphones On Battlefield

The Pentagon is banning deployed personnel from using fitness trackers, smartphones and potentially even dating apps that use geolocating features that could reveal the user's location.

The ban was first announced in an August 3 memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. 

"Effective immediately, Defense Department personnel are prohibited from using geolocation features and functionality on government and non-government-issued devices, applications and services while in locations designated as operational areas," the policy memo said.

It follows a months-long investigation into the use of location-tracking apps, after the fitness app Strava published a global heat map that accidentally revealed the locations of several United States military bases.

"We don't want to give the enemy any unfair advantage," Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters on Monday. "This is a necessary step to ensure the security of our personnel."

"This is all electronic devices that have geolocating features, basically GPS enabled devices, applications, that type of thing," Manning added.

While the devices themselves will not be banned, service members will be responsible for ensuring their geolocation features are disabled.

The Strava controversy served as a wakeup call for senior Pentagon officials, at least one of whom admitted to wearing a location-tracking Fitbit all the time.

It also highlights the larger debate over the military's use of technology and its handling of cybersecurity.

For years, the Pentagon has been experimenting with the increased use of smartphones and tablets in tactical situations.

While active duty soldiers carry their personal devices to operational areas, they can't take them on missions, so they're left communicating through encrypted radios that haven't changed much since World War II.