Military Power

The Defense Department is advising Canadian soldiers not to post personal photos and information on social networking websites like Facebook, citing security concerns.
The advisory was circulated in a memo obtained by CBC News. It warns soldiers not to appear in uniform in online photos and not to disclose their military connections.
"Al Qaeda operatives are monitoring Facebook and other social networking sites," the memo says.
"This may seem overdramatic … [but] the information can be used to target members for further exploitation. It also opens the door for your families and friends to become potential targets as well."
The Defence Department says it is also concerned with postings of photos and information from the battlefront in Afghanistan.
On Feb. 14, military official Brig.-Gen. Peter Atkinson warned against such battle scene postings.
"The insurgents could use this information to determine their success or their lack of it … and determine better ways to attack us," he told reporters in Ottawa.
Military families are already heeding the Defense Department's advice.
Samie Marchand-Whittle, whose husband is in the Canadian Forces, has closed public access to the Facebook page she maintains for military families.
"It's scary to know that they could find out personal information about our families, our children, where we live," said the Edmonton mother of two. "It is really scary."
But Sunil Ram, a professor of military history and land warfare at American Military University, questioned the military's warnings about posting information online.
"What we're really talking about is censorship more than anything else," he said on Monday. "This is the military's attempt to control the imagery of what is actually happening on the ground."


I'm all for OPSEC and all, but does this seem more like an OPSEC issue or censorship issue? (or a mix of both?)

Actually this is old news to me, I have met alot of CAF personel through Facebook and they allways state that they are under orders not to post location, or unit ect. When you really think about it, I think that it is a very wise move.

It is an extremely wise move by the Canadian military. And I would love to make another statement...when it comes to 'censorship' like the media always claims, maybe it is in their best interest if they dont know anything. The media is the biggest threat to any national security. You let NBC, ABC, FoxNews or any media station know something small, and they will turn it into the worst case scenerio just so that they can get their good ratings.

Like I said, I'm all for OPSEC. I fully understand not posting locations, units, ect. But "not to post personal photos and information"?

I'm sorry that you want to post a picture of your new car, you can't. You got married? Sorry. your high school friends you only keep up with on facebook will have to think you are just pulling their leg. Oh wait, relationship status is personal information so I guess they can't even know that.

Are we going to prevent your friends from posting any pictures that may have you in them? Should we not allow pictures from your first day of school back when you were 6?

There is safety and then there is living in a bubble, and depending on how far they take this determines which category I put this in.

I agree

I wonder if it all leads back to Prince Harry and how the British did not want any pictures of him in Iraq circulating around.