Personal trackers are everywhere, nowadays. People use them to know where their keys are, or to keep tabs on the family pet. Unfortunately, they can be misused to track objects & people without explicit permission, so I want to go over how you would check for and detect unwanted trackers. Just in case!
Personal Trackers
If you don’t already know these device, personal trackers are made by many of the big brand names you see everyday:
Google doesn’t have their own personal tracker yet, but may be developing one. Any mention of a Google-branded tracker, to date, has been clever satire.
There are plenty of other, smaller brand names of trackers available through Amazon and other websites, too.
Tracker Detection
For most modern mobile devices, tracker detection has been already been added. iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones and tablets have updated their operating systems to include the ability to check for, and alert you to, unwanted trackers. If a shady character has slipped a tracker into your luggage or vehicle, your phone is going to pick up on it and let you know!
But here’s how to check that your phone is doing this job:
Those articles should also give you a wealth of other info, including how to manually scan for trackers when you want to, and also what to do if a strange tracker is detected.
If your phone is so old as to not support tracker detection, Android users can try the Tracker Detect app. Apple users can find similar apps by searching their App Store for “tracker detect”, but I couldn’t vouch for any of those. It would be safer to upgrade to a newer iPhone.