To find a GPS tracker on your car, check the spots trackers get hidden: under the hood, under the dashboard, inside and under the bumpers, around the tires, under and between the seats, in the power outlets and in the trunk. Look with a flashlight, sweep with a signal detector, and if you find one, document it before you pull it off.

Signs someone may be tracking your car

Most people start looking because something feels off. Advocates who help people facing stalking point to signs like these:

• Someone seems to know where you are in real time.
• They show up where you didn’t say you’d be.
• They know more about your day than you’ve told them.
• You find a device, a box or a wire in the car that you don’t recognize.

Location can also leak with no device on the car at all: through a shared phone account, an app, or the car’s own connected app, which shows the car’s location to whoever signed up as its owner. If someone else set up that app, find out who controls the account.

What a car tracker looks like

There are two main kinds. A GPS tracker usually needs a power source, so some are wired into the car. It either sends its location live or saves a history to be downloaded later. A Bluetooth tracker, like an AirTag, runs on its own battery for months, so it doesn’t need to be wired in. Some trackers are as small as a quarter.

Where to look

Wait until you’re alone with the car and have daylight or a good flashlight. Then go through it in this order:

1. Under the hood. Look along the edges and around the battery. Some GPS trackers are wired to the car battery.
2. Under the dashboard. Look up from the driver’s footwell for a box or wires that don’t match the rest.
3. The bumpers. Check inside and under the front and back bumpers.
4. Around the tires. Shine the light around each one.
5. The seats. Feel under and between every seat, front and back.
6. The power outlets. Look for anything plugged into an outlet or charging port that you didn’t put there.
7. The trunk. Check every corner and anything stored in it.

If a spot is hard to reach, or you’re not sure what you’re looking at, a mechanic can check. If you plan to report it, the National Network to End Domestic Violence suggests asking the police to look first.

Sweep the car with a detector

Your eyes catch what’s in plain sight. A detector helps with what’s tucked away. The Hero Privacy Pen picks up wireless signals from GPS trackers, AirTags and cameras, and beeps or vibrates when it finds one. The alert gets stronger as you get closer, so you can narrow a signal down to one bumper or one seat.

Turn off your phone first, and unplug anything of yours in the car that sends a signal, so the pen isn’t picking up your own electronics. Then move it slowly over each spot on the list, left to right and up and down.

One limit to know: the pen picks up a device that’s sending a signal. A tracker that only saves its history, to be collected later, may not be sending one, so the hands-and-flashlight check matters too.

Your phone can help with Bluetooth trackers. An iPhone can alert you when an AirTag is moving with you, and on Android 6 and later you can scan for unknown trackers in Settings. Read how to tell if an AirTag is tracking you.

If you find a tracker

1. Leave it in place for now. Advocates warn that removing it can alert the person tracking you and can erase evidence.
2. Document it. Photograph the device and where you found it. Write down dates, places and anything the person said that showed they knew where you’d been.
3. Have it checked. Ask the police to look at it. If they can’t, a mechanic or a private investigator can.
4. Read the tag if it’s an AirTag. Hold your phone near it to see its serial number, and take a screenshot.
5. Talk to an advocate before you remove it if you think a partner or an ex put it there. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and open 24/7: call 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.

If you feel unsafe right now, drive to a busy public place or a police station and call 911.

Make the check a habit

Check the car after someone else has had it, like a repair shop or a valet, after a breakup, and any time the signs above show up.

Keep a Hero Privacy Pen in the glove box. It’s about the size of a marker, needs no app or Wi-Fi and alerts you with a beep or a silent vibration. Its infrared finder helps you spot camera lenses too, so the same pen checks a hotel room or a rental when you travel.

Get the Hero Privacy Pen