WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Department of Defense on Monday said all military personnel are banned from using location-revealing devices while being deployed, after such devices shared the whereabouts of hundreds of soldiers on the internet.
"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," Pentagon spokesman Robert Manning said.
"The rapidly evolving market of devices, applications and services with geolocation capabilities presents a significant risk to the Department of Defense personnel on and off duty, and to our military operations globally," Manning said.
The decision, outlined in a memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, appears to be in response to previous mass exposure of the locations of U.S. soldiers who have been using the location sharing devices during workout or other daily routines.
Exposed information included personal information, locations, routines and numbers of DoD personnel at a given military location. Manning said using the devices in overseas locations "potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission."
U.S. service members "use the devices and applications to track their pace, running routes, calories burned and more," a Pentagon news release said, adding that "these devices then store the information and upload it to central servers where it can be shared with third parties. That information can present enemies with information on military operations."
Earlier this year, a GPS tracking company released a compilation of thousands of user records in a global heat map, meant to demonstrate where its active end users are. Surprisingly to many, the heat map revealed unusual activity in the middle of deserts in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and also known military camps in the United States, exposing secret U.S. operating bases in the Middle East and layout of military facilities inside the United States.
The exposure immediately drew concerns from the U.S. intelligence community, who warned that the information put U.S. overseas operations at risk, and called on the Pentagon to curb the usage of GPS devices.
