The advertising ID is still on
The Pentagon Switched It Off. Did You?
Answering questions from Congress in April 2026, the Defense Department addressed whether government-issued phones still carried an active mobile advertising identifier. This brief asks how much one device setting contributes to a person's trackability, and what switching it off does and does not change. Built from the Defense Department's responses, the services' later letters to Congress, NSA guidance and platform documentation. For principals and family offices setting a device baseline across a household and its staff.
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Device identifier selection
Persistent device or browser identifiers (ad IDs, device IDs, fingerprints, synced cookies) let a specific device be recognized, followed or selected.
More on identify and link →- Mechanism · LocateCommercial movement data. Device location collected through apps, SDKs and ad systems is aggregated and sold as movement histories.
- Mechanism · Acquire and collectAd-system broadcast. Real-time bidding and ad delivery broadcast device and user data to many parties for each ad shown.