8 ms·
We were on a separate network from the secured military network, but we had complete and free access to the internet when I was there 6 years ago. Even in the
by iser 9y ago
We were on a separate network from the secured military network, but we had complete and free access to the internet when I was there 6 years ago. Even in the most remote combat operating posts, we had access to wifi.
Not sure if this can be solved from the civilian side. There is just too much information being transmitted out of a combat zone, and I think it has to be controlled from the source. Certain sites need to be just blocked in combat zones. Rather, we need to only have a list of allowed sites.
I know how much it sucks in a combat zone, and I know how much that internet connection makes someone feel like they are still part of the civilization. However, some data just should not be transmitted out of it, and it needs to be heavily controlled.
- znfi 9y agoIn this particular case I'm not sure that blocking internet access at the base will solve much since the data is stored on the device, and it's enough to bring the device to a location with internet access? Basically people go home or whatever and plug in their Garmin and then it'll just upload the last 6 months of data, and there is the same issue.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoWhy do deployed soldiers need personal fitness trackers (or what did you mean by a Garmin). Surely anything with a GPS or other wireless network abilities is an affront to opsec I'd imagine?
- znfi 9y agoWell, the data does not just appear on strava all by itself. I made an assumption that a non-neglible fraction of the data uploaded was from Garmins/fitness trackers or similar devices (like watch for tracking your running etc). I guess people could also be using their smartphone app, which I am less familiar with. If I'm misunderstanding what the source of the data is I apologize.
- Johnny555 9y ago"need" or "want"? I'm sure they don't "need" them any more than anyone else, but I'm also sure they "want" them for the same reason as everyone else that wants them -- for fitness tracking.
- chrisseaton 9y ago> Why do deployed soldiers need personal fitness trackers To track their personal fitness while deployed?
- notatoad 9y agotracking fitness and tracking location aren't the same thing.
- mind_bakery 9y agoTrue and false. At the moment, they are inexorably linked if tracking how much and how well you move is part of your fitness plan. GPS tends to be part of a common and usually pretty smart way to do that. For people who are deployed, it's important to have metrics of personal performance and keep track of any progress or decline in physical capabilities. Using that data wisely makes them better at whatever they do. The problem isn't just the soldiers and it's not just Strava, it's the culture around data itself. Tech companies that produce quantified-self devices or services need to realize the ENORMOUS responsibility they're taking on by collecting and using this data. Users need to realize just what it is they are sharing and how their data gets from point A to point D. Burying it in the fine print is not enough. Maybe people should get into the habit of looking at the data profiles each company has on them or at least being aware of the totality of what's collected so they can make better decisions. It is kind of ironic that the point of collecting this data is to help people make better decisions while this particular case is actually a collection of really bad decisions. Fire is both a useful tool and a dangerous chemical reaction, this is no different. Perhaps there needs to ALWAYS be an option to route the data to a private server of the user's choosing instead. If that were standard practice, it probably could have prevented this problem.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoI was hoping for something a little more inciteful ;o) My imagination of how an army is run requires careful maintenance of fitness of soldiers, so use of PT instructors, regular monitoring of fitness metrics. It also has dieticians to monitor food production/intake. Opsec would probably deny any personal electronic devices. If a deployed soldier needs to track their personal fitness then that suggests a deficiency - fitness of sisters must be of prime importance during deployment? There seems no reason that soldiers wouldn't have a fitness record they could access that included all food intake, mandated exercise, regular weight monitoring, blood pressure, and whatever. Of course, the use of personal fitness devices suggests my conception is wildly off how a deployed corpus of soldiers is actually run.
- rhizome 9y agoDoesn't the UCMJ already cover "information being transmitted out of a combat zone?"
- wbl 9y agoI don't think that's the right response, especially not now. Tell soldiers not to bring online fitness trackers, and then punish the ones who forget.
- rhizome 9y agoI'm saying it doesn't really seem to be a Strava problem, and that the problem on the military side likely already has a solution in place.
- JohnStudio 9y agoIt's a platform problem. The cross-availability of information on let's say ... Google Android. They can use a microphone, wifi signal analysis, and other techniques that make your GPS coordination data moot. What's getting more complex is the data itself, and how it be sorted and moved around the need for actual location data. That's why I think the "disable GPS / Location" actions in Android (and macOS) needs to be more granular. When we say "don't track me" .. it means ... on everything and protect the information from software in silos. It goes against the grain of security vs. usability .. but its gonna happen by will of the people.
- iser 9y agoI believe it covers sensitive materials only. Soldiers should not be punished through UCMJ for using Strava. That's ridiculous. Strava just should not be accessible within Afghanistan.
- avar 9y agoA country of 30 plus million shouldn't be able to use an app because some soldiers deployed there are bad at opsec?
- otempomores 9y agoDisagree completely. Too much time and human nature will work around that. My money is on creating virtual soldiers with virtual posts and internet life which hide the real soldiers in traffic noise and allow to identify and trace interested external forces.