Warning shot: Soldier alerts PLA to military threat from car-hailing apps
Smartphones’ GPS location services can reveal personnel’s identity and exact location, army newspaper reports
Members of the armed forces have been warned not to use car-hailing apps on their mobile phones because the programs’ GPS location detection services could leak military secrets.
The warning came in a report on Monday in the People’s Liberation Army’s official newspaper.
The discovery came to light when a soldier – identified as Xiao Zhou – from an undisclosed brigade based in Liaoning province, called a taxi from his barracks on January 30 using an app installed on his phone, the PLA Daily reported.
As the taxi waited outside the barracks for Xiao Zhou, another soldier named Song Xianjie, who was on duty near the barracks’ entrance, questioned the driver.
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Song reported to his superiors that the taxi driver’s phone not only displayed Xiao Zhou’s name and phone number, but also the barracks’ precise location. The confidentiality commission of Xiao Zhou’s brigade looked into the issue and announced that while car-hailing apps were convenient, they could easily leak sensitive information.
When a soldier called a taxi, the GPS location detection would be automatically activated, thereby exposing the caller’s location and personal information.