The U.S. Navy announced that certain commands are no longer authorized to provide photos and biographies of leadership on public-facing websites.
The decision was made to enhance security for sailors and their families, the service said.
“Adversaries increasingly aggregate publicly available data to track, profile, and target our personnel,” a Navy administrative message read. “By creating an unnecessary spotlight and surge of online interest, routine command triad biographies inadvertently expose our people to elevated risk.”
Commands led by vice admirals and officers with a lower rank, including civilian equivalents, are now prohibited from uploading the personal information on public websites.
The official leadership biographies to be removed include those of commanding officers, executive officers, chiefs of staff, chief staff officers, deputies and command master chiefs or equivalent.
Official flag and senior executive service biographies will continue to be hosted on the official websites for the Navy and the secretary of the Navy.
Commands led by admirals, however, will be allowed to maintain leadership biographies on websites.
Internal non-public websites will also continue to host biographies and portraits of service members.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.