Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) have raised concerns that the U.S. military’s decision to disable advertising trackers on government devices may not fully address national security risks posed by commercially available location data.

In letters shared by Wyden, the Air Force confirmed disabling advertising identifiers on computers and mobile devices approximately two months ago. The U.S. Special Operations Command stated it disabled trackers on Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows devices. The Navy informed Wyden it had disabled advertising IDs, though it did not specify the timing. The Army reported disabling the IDs on mobile devices earlier this year and noted that Windows computers had been covered since before 2021. Regarding Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) devices, the Army stated that the feature was disabled by default on Android and Apple devices since at least February 2026.

The measures follow reports that commercially available location data was used to target U.S. forces in the Middle East. Advertising identifiers, or MAIDs, allow companies to connect activity across apps and pinpoint a device’s location. Wyden and Harrigan are now asking the Department of Defense to investigate whether the military has adequately addressed the threat. In a statement, Wyden said existing efforts have not been effective at eliminating the threat, while Harrigan warned adversaries should not be able to obtain information that could help track American troops.

The congressmen requested that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) examine location datasets already purchased by the DoD and other federal agencies. They asked the OIG to query DoD facilities and military bases to identify where policies have not prevented the sale of location data and to determine if the data is originating from personal phones.

Location data gathered through mobile apps is often shared with third-party firms and data brokers. Disabling advertising IDs makes individual devices harder to identify because location data is no longer linked to a unique identifier. The U.S. intelligence community and FBI have confirmed purchasing such data for surveillance and intelligence purposes without a warrant.