The National Security Agency is urging the Department of Defense and other national security officials to turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS on cell phones when not using these features.

In a new NSA advisory released publicly yesterday (August 4), the agency warns that these features could put smartphone users at risk of being located while conducting sensitive government business. Indeed, these features could allow any smartphone user to be physically tracked.

"Location information is extremely valuable and must be protected.

"Location data can reveal the number of users in a location, the movements of users and suppliers, details of daily life (users and organizations), and can reveal unknown associations between users and locations.

While acknowledging that geolocation services are "by design" increasingly embedded in mobile devices and play an "integral" role in mobile communications, the NSA recommendations state that "users should be aware of these risks and take action based on their particular circumstances and risk tolerance."

"If location exposure has the potential to negatively impact the mission, users should prioritize mission risk and apply location tracking mitigation measures whenever possible.

The Recommendation further explained how geolocation information can be easily exposed by mobile devices.

"Mobile devices inherently trust cellular networks and providers, and cellular providers receive real-time location information of the mobile device every time the mobile device connects to the network.

"This means that providers can track users over a wide area; in certain scenarios, such as 911 calls, this feature saves lives, but may pose risks for location-sensitive personnel."

NSA officials have also stated that "mobile device disabling location services does not turn off GPS," and warns that it "does not significantly reduce the risk of location exposure."

The NSA also warns that "disabling location services does not significantly reduce the risk of location exposure.

and states: "Disabling location services only limits access to GPS and location data by apps. It states: "Disabling location services only restricts access to GPS and location data by apps; it does not prevent the operating system from using location data or communicating that data to the network."

It also states: "Disabling location services only restricts access to GPS and location data by apps; it does not prevent the operating system from using location data or communicating that data to the network."[19

The NSA added that location data could remain exposed "even when cellular is turned off" by other connected devices (including smartwatches, smart home products, and other IoT products) and by apps requesting access to location data.

In addition to advising users to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the NSA had other recommendations for smartphone users who want to protect their location privacy.

"Apps should be given as few permissions as possible," the NSA recommendation stated.

"Privacy settings should be set so that apps do not use or share location information.

The NSA warns against installing apps that directly relate to location information, such as "maps, compasses, traffic apps, fitness apps, apps for finding local restaurants, and shopping apps."

If such apps must be installed, they can be configured to collect location information only when the app is in active use.

The agency also urges smartphone users to minimize the collection of location data by ads: "Use privacy settings to limit ad tracking" and "reset your device's ad ID at least weekly."

Several studies have shown that it is fairly easy and inexpensive to locate and track individual smartphone users using mobile advertising.

While many owners of expensive smartphones may not like this recommendation, the NSA also urged users to "turn off settings (usually known as FindMy or Find My Device settings) that allow tracking of lost, stolen, or misplaced devices" urged users to.

It also suggested that smartphone users "minimize web browsing on your device as much as possible and set your browser's privacy/allow location settings to not allow location usage."

Finally, the agency suggested that users may wish to "use a virtual private network (VPN) to anonymize and obscure location information." "

The best mobile VPNs are listed here.

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