TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Civilians tend to overlook the fact that mobile phones constantly transmit user data and reveal user locations. However, the potential risks these functions entail are something military personnel must always take seriously.

In addition to prohibiting the use of smartphones manufactured by Chinese companies, such as Huawei or Xiaomi, inside military facilities, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) implemented an application called MDM in late 2015 to block all functions of the phone that can potentially reveal user information and location, including the camera, check-in, hotspot sharing, and Bluetooth sharing.

When military personnel enter a military base or camp, the MDM application, developed by a top governmental research institute of arms and military equipment, will automatically be opened. Personnel smartphones will also be regularly checked to ensure the application is operating properly on their phones.

However, the military has recently discovered that MDM does not always operate normally on the iOS system of iPhone, and that users can easily remove the application from their phones.

The Army Command Headquarters announced on Sunday that starting July 1, smartphones on which the application cannot operate properly or can be deleted by users, in this case, the iPhone, will be prohibited from military bases or camps.

Huang Kai-sen (黃開森), head of the Army's Political Warfare Department, said his department reported the problem to the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology which developed the application, and hoped the technical problem can be resolved soon, reported United Daily News.

It is likely that the Navy and Air Force will soon follow suit the ministry's new protocols to further control smartphone use in highly classified military facilities, reports said.