ﾌմ尺Ǥ乇刀 ｷЦ乃May 28
Wolfie Christl

"U.S. forces deployed to war zones have ​been targeted using commercially available location data"

Just like I, @johnnyryan and others warned.

US Senator Wyden says it's time to "start treating the adtech industry as a national security threat". Agreed.
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/pentagon-says-us-military-personnel-are-reportedly-being-targeted-using-location-2026-05-28/

May 28 at 12:54pmWeb
Show threadWolfie ChristlMay 28

Here's our 2023 report on how "data about American defense personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors":
https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/americas-hidden-security-crisis/

In a letter, Wyden and other congress members write that the DoD "has not taken basic steps to protect U.S. military personnel from the serious … threat posed by the collection and sale of personal information". Instead, it has "encouraged the growth of this industry by buying location data" from data brokers:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28168364-ron-wydens-may-28-2026-letter-to-the-department-of-defense/

Show threadWolfie ChristlMay 28

Their letter is quite explicit about Apple, Google and Chrome:

- Both Apple iOS and Google Android were "designed" to "assign a unique tracking number to each smartphone for use by the advertising industry and data brokers".

- Google Chrome, as a web browser that is "designed to facilitate data collection", must be removed from all US military devices.

Show threadBenBenMay 28
@wchr German @netzpolitik_feed has quite an extensive analyses (with several international partners) about the markets where these kind of data are sold. Also on the security implication of such data. Keyword "databroker files"…
Show threadCassandrichMay 28
@wchr I mean that sounds ok, but they should really just be treating the data brokers as military targets and dealing with them as such.
Show threadFlipper 🐬🏳️‍🌈May 29
@dalias @wchr
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈May 29
@wchr
Seriously? They're tracking active military?
WHY?
So our enemies can hack in and know where we are?
Another thing that should have NEVER been privatized.
Show threadnagaramMay 29
@Darkphoenix
@wchr

If I know anything about our armed forces, its mostly 18-22 year olds who've just been given both a decent pay check and zero consequences if they blow it all on dumb shit.

Its why they all have stock Dodge Chargers and Mustangs. Its why they're tracked so well by adtech.
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈May 29
@nagaram @wchr
wait.
You think $25k a year is a decent salary? Here, it will barely cover rent.
Before Trump, maybe, but with the cuts in safety nets (one of the largest groups who receive SNAP are military.)
Unfortunately, the cars are real, but that is because car salesmen know that the new recruits are, in general, more gullible than the average American.
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈May 29
@nagaram @wchr and they know they can actually go to the commanding officer if the recruit defaults.
Show threadnagaramMay 29
@Darkphoenix
@wchr

I thought they made closer to $30-$35k a year.

Base Army salary according to GoArmy is $28k so roughly $13/hr assuming full time hours.

That's pretty good when you consider most recruits are coming from rural areas where they'd be lucky to find anything over $10/hr and anything full time.
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈May 29
@nagaram @wchr and that is why recruits are often from very red and poor parts of the country, it's an escape. Personally, I also think that one of the reasons that birth control is so restricted in those same places, because the government needs cannon fodder, and richer people are more likely to go to a military academy where they graduate as a lieutenant, bypassing the whole "private" cycle, and they usually have fewer children.
Show threadDomaslaMay 28
@wchr @johnnyryan
...and a personal threat to you, to me, to everyone.
Show threadRyek DarkenerMay 28

@wchr @johnnyryan

So at least one senator has taken notice? Finally?

Show threadGarrett WollmanMay 28
@_RyekDarkener_ There are very few Senators who even know which end of a smartphone to hold to their ear.
Show threadMarijke LuttekesMay 28
@wchr @johnnyryan You’d think they’d have taken a more serious look at data-related risks after the incident where fitness tracker data exposed a military base, years ago, but sure.
Show threadTaran RampersadMay 28

@wchr @johnnyryan well, when some of us were saying, 'everyone's data', we weren't sprinkling magic camouflage dust on our troops.

We said EVERYONE.

Those bureaucratic ninnies. 🙄

Show threadDaniel DemmelMay 28
@wchr @johnnyryan until a systemic fix is put in place, do you have any reliable sources on how to browse safely preventing this data capture? For example, I'm using Firefox with Privacy Badger and Adguard on a stock Pixel phone, is that enough or would I need to flash a custom ROM? I'm not particularly concerned about 100% watertight protection personally, but would be good to get an idea what's a reasonable level of protection. Looks like for some people this knowledge would be a matter of life and death though...
Show threadBo TallyMay 28
@wchr @johnnyryan I suppose that random AI Mission Assignment is probably not that much worse than a Hegseth BrainFart.
Show threadeshepMay 29
@wchr
It's always baffled me how trackers of any kind on the internet are not illegal. If someone were to keep tabs on you in the real world by constantly monitoring where you shop, what you look at, and generally what you get up to all day, nobody would think twice about condemning them as a stalker. However, if a business or government does the same thing under the guise of marketing, security, or child safety, there seems to be no issue~?
@johnnyryan
Show threadS★m V★rm★May 29
@wchr @johnnyryan Turns out a right to privacy benefits all
Show threadsarcoptus scabiumMay 29
@wchr @johnnyryan lol good luck, senator. just because you don't like it now doesn't change the fact that you spent too long feeding it and nurturing it. it's in the walls.
Show threadjeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷMay 29

@wchr

Sounds more like:
"It's time to treat "the american way of life" as a thread to humanity, being human, human kind and kind humans."
🤷

@johnnyryan