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Pentagon Restricts Use of Location-Logging Fitness Trackers (cnn.com)
In the beginning of the year, Strava released a data visualization map that showed all the activity tracked by users of its app. The map was detailed enough to potentially give away extremely sensitive information about military personnel on active service in locations across the world. After reviewing their GPS policies, the Pentagon is banning soldiers and other personnel at sensitive bases and warzone areas from using location features on fitness trackers and other devices. Engadget reports: The Department of Defense is not issuing an outright ban on GPS devices and apps, but declared that the location features must be turned off in certain areas. "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," a memo obtained by the Associated Press said. It's up to ranking officers in less-sensitive areas to decide whether their charges can use GPS functions, based on the threat level in that location. The Defense Department will also provide training on the risks that fitness trackers bring.
dupe alert
dupe alert
Military "intelligence" on full display here. Did these retards really not know that fitness trackers equipped with GPS would give away their location?
As a gesture of goodwill, the Trump administration is sending 40,000,000 wearable fitness trackers to North Korea to help improve the health of their civilian and military population.
It almost feels like we've been here before....https://yro.slashdot.org/story/18/08/06/1623218/pentagon-restricts-use-of-fitness-trackers-other-devices
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
The GPS network is one-way only. You can get your position, but it's difficult to guess your position for somebody else.
There used to be a lot of out-door GPS tracker that only saved the trail locally (e.g.: on a SD Card).
The problem is that most modern sport trackers (even the offline ones) come with - e.g. - an app on the smartphone that links to the tracker (e.g.: over BLE) and that app will automatically slurp everything onto the cloud, unless you're very careful, pay attention to all the small print, and take some time to configure everything.
I think the hierarchy either underestimated the problem of those apps, or though that the people will pay attention and only use in-device tracking and disable any upload.
And now comes the Big Surpsie!!~~~ :
Most peoples are clueless and don't pay attention on the small details, even those doing their jogging or daily-step-counting on restricted/secret grounds (did they get no training about security ?!?), and they'll pay no attention to the built-in "always on by default" cloud features of their gizmo.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
in the army the DI has to remind you 5 times a day to do something.
well golly sarge I did not know that!
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/18/08/06/1623218/pentagon-restricts-use-of-fitness-trackers-other-devices
Do slashdot editors EVEN READ SLASHDOT?
...those devices you CANNOT disable GPS? Like U.S. smartphones or any tablet capable of making a phone call. You might think you can but the Power To Be have decreed that no device that can 911 cannot. An enemy knows this and they can exploit this. A smart thang will to ban ANY device not explicitly approved by military signals intelligence in any of the 76 countries were our nation is involved in active conflict, subject to court martial.
Look for the places where there are apparently never any soldiers...
Nullius in verba
The Army doesn't have DI's, the Marine Corps does. The Army has Drill Sergeants (and the occasional Drill Cadet)
let's? Let us, let is, something belongs to the let?
The word is LETS. That's all. No fucking apostrophe.
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia preparing ‘crushing response’ to US sanctions ‘bill from hell’
Moscow is ready for the bill introduced by US senators on measures against the Kremlin elite and on banning transactions related to Russia’s new sovereign debt, Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house) Financial Markets Committee Anatoly Aksakov told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The lawmaker noted the US sanctions’ impact on Russia’s financial system would be insignificant. "It is more symbolic and moral rather than important in material terms," he said.
A source close to the Kremlin has not ruled out that Russia could retaliate with its "crushing" military and strategic measures and review some its international commitments.
"If the unproven meddling in US election gives them the right to cause economic damage and deal a blow to the nation’s welfare, it’s not surprising that Russia could draw up measures, including military and strategic ones, which can result in irreparable losses for the Americans’ economy and profits," the source told the paper.
"I won’t be surprised if soon Russia reviewed some its international commitments given the changes in the international situation. One should always remember that particular commitments were made in a certain international and legal context. The United States is showing this to the entire world today by renouncing its international commitments every day, including in the sphere of control over non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (deal with Iran) and also in tariff and non-tariff protectionism in trade."
The Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2018 (DASKAA), aimed at increasing economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Russia in response to Moscow’s alleged continuing interference in US elections was introduced last week by a bipartisan group of US senators.
The US "bill from hell" suggests sanctions against Russian political figures, oligarchs, family members and other individuals as well as restrictions against transactions related to investment in energy projects supported by Russian state-owned or parastatal entities. Another important measure of the initiative is the demand to ban transactions pertaining to the Russian sovereign debt, which has been discussed this year many times, the paper says.
The new package of measures was inspired by the Helsinki summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. Moscow considers that Washington’s sanctions initiatives have been triggered by the domestic political struggle in the US.
More:
http://tass.com/pressreview/1016150
By default, out-of-the box, most Android phone will only leak location information to the proprietary Google Service used for maps and fused location (i.e.: your phone uploads a list of all cell tower and wifi point that you see within range and their respective signal strengh, Google's cloud would do some triangulation and give you back a somewhat good location approximation, faster than it would take to get a lock on GPS sattelites - or even if you can't lock them, e.g.: because you're indoor)..
And Google are smart enough to not release a "heat-map" detailled enough.
(You would need to manually go and disable all the potential leak points)
Then, depending on which app you're installing, there are tons of potential snoop that could slurp your data.
(All this "get automatic sale alerts and coupons when you approach a shop" type of app could potentially leverage this)
Some like Uber will keep their data secret, and only admin could have "god mode" interfaces to display it.
Other like the sport tracker are stupid enough to publish maps that will publicly reveal their slurping tendencies, while also risk to make public classified information such as military bases layouts.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]