US troops are reportedly being targeted using location data, Pentagon says | Hacker News Reader

US troops are reportedly being targeted using location data, Pentagon says

militarytimes.com

45 pointsjethronethro19 comments

> Wyden said in a statement that it was time to “start treating the adtech industry as a national security threat.”

Wow, wasn't expecting to find good news here, but I think that would be a positive change.

The paradox being the adtech industry is a central part of the national security apparatus.

Nietzsche: "the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself"

Maybe they should have paid more attention to what's happening in Ukraine... (targeting of Russian troops posting selfies on social media...)

its pretty clear negligence to not have learned everything possible from the ukranian forces at all levels.

the US has learned this same lesson many times though, with people of all stripes posting their workouts running back and forth on aircraft carriers on strava. same with their patrol routes around bases

Learning probably hasn’t taken place because I think there is a disrespect on the part of the US forces towards the Ukraine and that probably was true in Vietnam and Afghanistan…

Knowledge doesn't diffuse perfectly and instantly through an institution.

On top of that, increased levels of incompetence are to be expected after a loyalty purge.

Absolutely incredible….

maybe they should care more about privacy ingeneris

Maybe a comprehensive privacy law that bans the sale of location data, how is that for a start?

I think collection might be what we should ban.

Even the more conservative tech companies have no qualms about "anonymizing" data then sharing it.

(also "sale" is a very weak word. many companies "never sell" data, but they collect it, they share it, etc)

Doesn't even have to be a sale. The boundaries of US bases in the ME during our conflicts there could be very reliably be mapped inside Strava, et. al. because the soldiers would be posting workouts.

Same with aircraft carrier movements.

Having good control over the signals your soldiers emit is life or death and win or lose in modern war. If command does get control over that it becomes a great tool for deception in detail. If they do, the Pentagon might want to make an announcement like this to lure their enemies into using this data.

Battlefield AI could continuously generate simulations of troop deployments in plausible detail and publish them by loading web pages with spoofed location data on behalf of warfighter's "private" devices. They could also use drones as a kind of infantry chaff, with correct electromagnetic signatures from infrared to wifi.

Peter Thiel licking his grubby little lips right now at the prospect of furthering his surveillance monopoly

Did they forget what happened with Strava?

https://www.wired.com/story/strava-heat-map-military-bases-f...

Consider using the war powers act to stop the attacks on service people. Aiding and abetting the enemy. Maybe a tweet to DJT, Hegseth and General Caine. Could be a distraction from Iran or whatever else they may want a distraction from.

... and why are military phones using the public internet?

... and why do they have applications with trackers on them?

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