Lawmakers praised the step but urged a DoD inspector general review to understand policy gaps that allowed already-purchased data to be sold and to recommend changes.

India’s data framework emphasizes consent, transparency, purpose limitation, and data minimization, underscoring the broader lesson that marketing data can be repurposed for surveillance or security threats depending on the user.

The piece includes journalistic context and contact information for TechCrunch security editor Zack Whittaker.

The U.S. military has disabled advertising identifiers on a range of devices to curb the use of commercial location data for tracking American troops.

Mobile advertising IDs, or MAIDs, are unique device identifiers that track activity across apps and contribute to location data profiles.

Timeline notes vary by branch: the Army says MAIDs were blocked on Windows before 2021 and on mobile devices since February 2026, the Air Force and SOCOM have confirmed actions, while Navy officials did not provide comments.

Wyden has long pushed for stronger privacy and security measures, noting the broader government use of location data by agencies such as the FBI and NSA.

Experts welcomed the move but warned that tracking could persist through app behavior, device details, network data, or triangulation techniques.

The article argues that addressing consumer data and location-tracking risks is urgent, with actions across branches to reduce exposure for personnel.

The piece references earlier reporting and documents that discuss location data risks to national security.

Regulatory and enforcement context includes FTC actions against data brokers and a shifting stance of U.S. agencies as both regulators and buyers of data.

Wyden and Harrigan are pressing the Pentagon to investigate whether the military adequately mitigated location data risks, with Wyden calling efforts insufficient.