After it was discovered that fitness trackers and other electronic devices can provide the user’s GPS coordinates to social media, the Pentagon made some revisions to their rules. Now, the higher-ups in the military will make the decision on whether or not their troops can use the GPS function on their devices based on the security threat in their area at that time. “These geolocation capabilities can expose personal information, locations, routines, and numbers of DOD personnel, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission,” the memo stated. Strava created a Global Heat Map to register the locations of the users of their fitness application. The map was spread out from 2015 to September of 2017 and showed small pockets of service activity in militarized areas such as Syria and Iraq. In addition to these restrictions, the Pentagon will be providing extensive cyber- security training to DOD employees and other staff to help them better understand the risks these fitness trackers could pose to them.
