U.S. military officials have disabled advertising trackers on a variety of phones and computers used by service members, according to letters shared by Senator Ron Wyden and reports from Reuters. This follows concerns that commercially available location data—collected by advertising companies and sold by data brokers—had been used to target American forces in the Middle East. The Air Force told Wyden that it disabled advertising identifiers on computers and mobile devices two months ago, while the U.S. Special Operations Command said it had recently done the same on its Windows devices. The Army told Reuters that advertising identifiers tied to mobile devices had been disabled earlier this year. The Department of Defense confirmed the move as part of an effort to protect troops from threats that rely on their locations. This includes iPhones, Android devices, and Windows computers connected to the federal military network. Reuters reported that these protections were rolled out earlier this year, with the Air Force implementing its changes more recently in July. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, has been pushing the Pentagon on this issue for months. The disclosures highlight a growing national security concern: that location data collected by the advertising industry and sold by data brokers can be used to track and target military personnel deployed in war zones. The Air Force and Special Operations Command declined to comment further. Similar letters from the Army and Navy to Wyden stated that advertising identifiers had been disabled on military devices, but they did not specify when these restrictions were put in place. The Army said in a statement that advertising identifiers had been blocked on Windows computers "since before 2021," but that Android and Apple devices had only had this disabled by default "since at least February 2026." Messages seeking comment from the Navy went unanswered. The effort to reduce the amount of location data generated by smartphones comes as military officials consider stricter restrictions on phone use overall. In July, Reuters reported that some deployed personnel in the Middle East could be ordered to surrender their phones due to concerns that videos they posted online were helping Iran target American bases. Wyden and Representative Pat Harrigan, a Republican from North Carolina, sent a letter to the Pentagon asking for an investigation into whether the military had properly addressed the dangers posed by the location data trade. The letter included updates from the various military branches on their efforts to disable advertising identifiers on military devices. Wyden said in a statement that the military's efforts "have not been effective at neutralizing this threat." Harrigan said that U.S. enemies "should not be able to pull out a credit card and buy information that helps them track American troops." The Pentagon said it would respond directly to the lawmakers. Mobile advertising identifiers (MAIDs) are unique codes linked to specific devices that can be used to track a person's activity across apps and determine their location. Zach Edwards, co-founder of the privacy-focused ad tech company Decryptads, said that disabling MAIDs on military devices was a positive step. However, he warned that service members might still be tracked through more complex methods, such as using network data or device details to triangulate their locations. Wyden raised the issue earlier this year after finding that unnamed foreign adversaries had used commercially obtained location data to target U.S. troops in the Middle East. He praised the move to reduce advertising tracking but warned that personal devices brought onto military bases by service members and contractors could still expose them and facilities to attacks. While the U.S. government has acknowledged the risk, U.S. intelligence agencies and the FBI have confirmed that they purchase this data for surveillance and intelligence collection without a warrant.