Pentagon Restricts Use of GPS Trackers to Find Yef

The Pentagon is restricting troops’ use of electronic fitness trackers and other electronic tracking devices.

There is a security problem that apparently did not occur to the Eager Beavers who think there are no Bad People in the world who want to find you and kill you. Perhaps they need to be put into a war zone with a GPS microchip embedded in their posteriors, just like in those Bond movies.

Per this AP article:  https://apnews.com/d29c724e1d72460fbf7c2e999992d258  military personnel and other defense personnel (an undefined term) deployed to sensitive bases or high risk areas will not be allowed to use electronic fitness trackers or cell phone applications (“apps” to you gadgeteers) that can/will/are likely to reveal their whereabouts.

No…. Really??? That thought didn’t occur to anyone at the 5-sided parking garage on the Potomac? And these people get a paycheck?

‘The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, stops short of banning the fitness trackers or other electronic devices, which are often linked to cellphone applications or smart watches and can provide the users’ GPS and exercise details to social media. It says the applications on personal or government-issued devices present a “significant risk” to military personnel, so those capabilities must be turned off in certain operational areas.

‘Under the new order, military leaders will be able to determine whether troops under their command can use the GPS function on their devices, based on the security threat in that area or on that base.  (Okay, but what if you don’t want to use one at all? Are you going to get spanked for not being socially electronic? Is your paycheck going to be fined?)

“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 said.” – AP article quote.

This comes from the revelation in January that an online tracking map titled Global Heat Map, created by Strava, a GPS tracking company, was pinpointing the locations of subscribers through satellite uplinks to Strava’s fitness service.

This means that we can no longer track whether or not Yef is in the hallway running the floor buffer or trekking across the grinder to get ice cream.

The other side of this coin is this questionable need to be electronically connected to everything in the world. My phone annoys me enough when it rings and doesn’t tell me who is robocalling me. Is it really, truly necessary to be so digitized that you can be followed by a satellite uplink whether you like it or not?

Like I said above, what if you just don’t want the damned thing in the first place?

Category: "Teh Stoopid", "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", "Your Tax Dollars At Work"