Belgium’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed an existing ban on military personnel using geolocation apps on military compounds and in their immediate vicinity. A ministry spokesman restated the rule amid a data leak from the travel app Polarsteps.
Dutch investigative outlet Follow the Money found a vulnerability in Polarsteps that gave journalists access to photos, videos and GPS data of about 23 million users, including some 904,000 Belgians. Service members were among them. Investigators were able to reconstruct routes, duty locations and, in some cases, likely home addresses.
After the report, the Netherlands blacklisted Polarsteps for its armed forces. Belgium took a more targeted line. Jan Van Camp, spokesman for Defence Minister Theo Francken, said:
“In our country, military personnel are in any case forbidden from using apps that rely on geolocation, such as Polarsteps, on or near military quarters.”
Het Nieuwsblad quoted a similar formulation: military personnel are banned from using geolocation apps on military compounds or in their vicinity.
The restriction is not new. After the 2018 Strava scandal, when heatmap data outlined bases in operational areas, the Belgian army already limited such apps. Internal directives require private profiles, no identifiable military markers, and no tracking in sensitive zones. Breaches can lead to disciplinary action.
The issue goes beyond one app. Location data from smartphones, fitness trackers and advertising identifiers can reconstruct movements of personnel near bases, NATO headquarters and other critical sites. Belgian Defence notes that smartphone use is already restricted in sensitive quarters and that personnel receive regular digital-hygiene briefings.
Against the Polarsteps leak, the ministry stressed that the rules are already in force and apply to any app that records and may disclose location.
