Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Our military turns off this invasive smartphone feature. So should you.

theblaze.com · 5h · first reportShare

When the United States military disables ad trackers on troop smartphones because Iranian agents might use them to inflict harm, you know a technology has outgrown its original sales pitch. The same surveillance system tracking American soldiers is tracking ordinary Americans too. The difference is that the military has finally decided that it’s too dangerous to ignore. Stopping the insanity requires cutting off the flow at its source. An ad tracker is a small piece of software code placed inside apps, websites, and operating systems. Its official job is simple. It monitors what you click and what you buy. It tracks where you scroll so companies can serve you personalized ads for running shoes, air fryers, lawnmowers — or just about anything else you might buy. To make this work, your phone generates a unique string of numbers called a Mobile Advertising ID. Think of it as a digital name tag stuck to your lapel. Every time you check the weather or browse a dating app, your phone broadc