Overview
- A Dutch regional journalist used published military mailing instructions to hide a Bluetooth tracker in a postcard to HNLMS Evertsen, revealing the frigate’s location.
- The device reported movement for about 24 hours from Heraklion, Crete toward Cyprus before the crew found it during mail sorting and disabled it.
- Dutch defence officials said the Ministry has banned battery-powered greeting cards and is reviewing mail guidance after acknowledging envelopes had not been X-rayed.
- The tracker relied on nearby phones aboard the ship to relay its position, showing how common devices can unwittingly broadcast sensitive locations.
- Coverage places the case in a wider run of operational-security lapses tied to consumer tech, with a retired Dutch general urging stricter routines and recent examples including a Strava route on France’s carrier and an unauthorized Starlink unit on a US ship.