Pentagon Forbids Use of GPS Features in Fitness Apps

The Pentagon on Monday prohibited deployed forces from using GPS features in fitness apps and other devices after the data could have exposed sensitive details about bases and troops, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.

"These geolocation capabilities can expose personal information, locations, routines, and numbers of department personnel, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission," Maj. Audricia Harris, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said in a statement, the Examiner reported.

Troops in deployed locations are immediately prohibited from using the geolocation features in private and government devices unless a military combatant commander authorizes it, the Pentagon memo said, the Examiner reported.

"As we were developing it, we wanted to be very clear about giving commanders latitude, some type of space, to make decisions on the ground," said Col. Rob Manning, the Pentagon press operations director, the Examiner reported.

Military officials are set to create risk management guidelines and new training for those devices within 30 days, the report said.

In one recent instance, the fitness app Polar revealed locations of people exercising in secretive locations such as intelligence agencies, military bases and airfields, nuclear weapons storage sites, and embassies around the world, Bellingcat reported.

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