U.S. says troops were targeted with location data, as senator warns ad industry is a 'national security threat' | TechCrunch

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that hostile actors have targeted and surveilled serving military personnel on the battlefield using commercial location data. U.S. Central Command reported receiving multiple threat reports about adversary exploitation of purchased location data to target or surveil U.S. personnel in theater. The report provided no specific examples. Commercial location data is often gathered from phones and computers through online advertising, then sold by data brokers on the open market. Governments and militaries, including the United States, have purchased such data without obtaining a warrant. The FBI has warned consumers to use ad blockers to reduce data collection by apps and websites. Sen. Ron Wyden called for treating the adtech industry as a national security threat.

"USCENTCOM has received multiple threat reports concerning adversary exploitation of commercial location data to target or surveil US personnel in theater."

"Location data is often collected from phones and computers through online advertising, which then gets bought by data brokers, who then sell the data on the open market."

"Governments and militaries, including the United States, have purchased this data in the past without obtaining a warrant."

"Wyden told Reuters that it was time to "start treating the adtech industry as a national security threat.""

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