Spying Fears Lead to Pentagon Pokemon Restrictions
Michael Hardy5:04 p.m. EDT August 12, 2016
Popularity Of Nintendo's New Augmented Reality Game Pokemon Go Drives Company Stock Up
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The popular Pokemon Go is now a no-no at the Pentagon. The Defense Department, citing fears of spying, has banned the game from employees’ work phones, and ordered a stop to play inside the building and other department facilities, according to published accounts.
DoD’s primary concern appears to be the game’s tracking of players—fine in a public park, problematic in a highly secure facility. The game uses GPS and Google Maps to meld the game’s digital creatures with the player’s real world location.
According to The Guardian, the Pentagon recently had a “gym,” an area where Pokemon players can fight and train the virtual characters they have gathered. The gym, which would have been designated by the game’s distributor Niantic, is now gone, the Guardian reports.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/cyber/2016/08/12/spying-fears-lead-pentagon-pokeman-restrictions/88631152/
