Lawmakers Press Pentagon On Foreign Tracking Of U.S. Troops Via Phone Data

On June 2, 2026, lawmakers sent a letter to DOD Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies pressing the Pentagon after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported adversaries used commercial phone location data to track U.S. troops overseas.^[1]

CENTCOM told Congress it has received multiple threat reports of adversaries using commercial smartphone location data to target or surveil U.S. personnel in theater.^[1] CENTCOM said it only rolled out a capability to administratively disable location sharing on government-issued smartphones in May 2026.^[1] Lawmakers said advertising identifiers remain enabled on government-issued devices despite prior federal cybersecurity guidance to disable them.^[1] They urged DOD to disable those identifiers, issue guidance for personal phones used near bases, and swap standard browsers for privacy-focused options.^[1]

CENTCOM began sending the threat reports to Congress before it added that administrative control in May 2026.^[1] Lawmakers said the gap leaves troops vulnerable because commercial datasets and simple phone identifiers can let adversaries pinpoint units and movements.^[1]

In their June 2 letter, they asked DOD CIO Kirsten Davies to move quickly to limit data flows and better protect personnel.^[1]

1. Fox News