You leave the house at odd times, take a different route, tell no one your plans — and they still turn up. Or they mention, a little too casually, that you were “out at Robina on Tuesday”. When someone always seems to know where you are, there is often a practical explanation, and one of the most common is a physical tracking device.

Small GPS trackers and Bluetooth tags like Apple’s AirTag are cheap, tiny and easy to hide. They have legitimate uses — finding lost keys, tracking a stolen car — but the eSafety Commissioner (esafety.gov.au) has identified location tracking as a recurring form of technology-facilitated abuse, particularly around separation. This article covers where trackers tend to be hidden, how your phone can help you find them, and — critically — what to do if you find one, because the instinctive response (throwing it away) can cost you important evidence.

If you are researching this because you suspect you are being tracked, consider doing that research on a device the other person has never had access to, such as a friend’s phone or a library computer. And if you are ever in immediate danger, call 000.

Two kinds of tracking devices

It helps to know what you might be looking for.

Bluetooth tags — AirTags, Samsung SmartTags, Tile and similar — are coin-sized. They have no GPS of their own; they report their position by quietly piggybacking on nearby phones. They run for a year or more on a small battery and need no wiring, which makes them easy to slip into a bag, a car, or a child’s belongings.

Dedicated GPS trackers are a little larger and report their position over the mobile network, often in near real time. Some are battery powered with strong magnets for attaching under a vehicle; some are hardwired into a car’s electrical system and never run flat. Hardwired trackers are a particular risk where the other person had access to the car during the relationship — or arranged its servicing.

Location tracking does not always involve a hidden device, either. Shared accounts, family-sharing settings and monitoring software on a phone can all reveal your location. If the pattern fits but no device turns up, our articles on stalkerware warning signs and account compromise after separation cover those pathways.

Your phone may already be trying to warn you

Both major phone platforms now watch for unknown Bluetooth tags travelling with you.

iPhone shows an “Items detected with you” style alert when an AirTag or compatible tag that is separated from its owner keeps moving with you. You can then make the tag play a sound to help locate it, and view information about it.

Android has unknown-tracker alerts that work similarly for compatible tags, and includes a manual scan option in settings you can run at any time.

Two honest limitations. First, these alerts cover Bluetooth tags — they do not detect dedicated GPS trackers, which use the mobile network instead. Second, alerts can take time to trigger and are not guaranteed. So take an alert seriously, but do not treat the absence of one as proof you are not being tracked.

If you do get an alert, resist the urge to immediately trigger the tag’s sound at home or confront anyone. Note the alert, screenshot it if it is safe to do so, and read the section below on documenting properly before you act.

Where trackers are commonly hidden

If a slow, deliberate check feels warranted, common hiding places include:

In and around a car

  • under the rear and front bumpers, and inside bumper cavities;
  • in wheel arches and under the chassis, attached magnetically;
  • inside the boot, under its floor lining, or in the spare-wheel well;
  • in the glovebox, centre console, seat pockets and under seats;
  • behind the number plate or in the plate surround;
  • for hardwired devices, under the dashboard or connected near the OBD diagnostic port (usually under the steering column).

A torch and a mirror help. If the other person had extended access to the vehicle, a mechanic can inspect the places you cannot easily see — and it is reasonable to ask them not to remove anything they find until you have taken advice.

In belongings

  • handbags, nappy bags, gym bags — linings, base panels and rarely used pockets;
  • children’s items that travel between households: school bags, toys, prams, car seats;
  • gifts, especially bulky ones given around separation.

Children’s belongings deserve particular attention in shared-custody situations, because they move with the child — and with you.

Found something? Don’t throw it away

Finding a tracker is confronting, and the natural impulses are to smash it, bin it, or drive it to the other side of town. Understandable — and usually a mistake, for three reasons.

First, the device is evidence. Unlawful tracking can support a protection order application (a DVO in Queensland; called an AVO in NSW and an IVO in Victoria) and may constitute a criminal offence. A tracker that has been destroyed or discarded proves very little.

Second, removing it tells the other person you found it. The moment the device stops moving with you or goes offline, whoever monitors it may realise — and discovery can escalate risk. What you do next is best planned, not improvised, ideally with police, a domestic violence service or your lawyer involved.

Third, the device can be analysed. A forensic examination can often establish what the device is, how long it has likely been in place, and — through GPS and location data analysis — what movement history exists and where it was reporting to. Account records associated with a tag or tracker can help establish who was operating it, which is the question a court actually cares about.

So instead: photograph the device exactly where you found it, including wide shots showing its position. Note the date, time and circumstances. If it must be removed for safety reasons, handle it minimally and keep it — ideally in a bag, labelled — and get it to police or a forensic examiner promptly so that chain of custody is maintained. How evidence is handled between discovery and the courtroom genuinely affects the weight it carries.

Getting help

You do not have to work this out alone. 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) provides confidential counselling and safety planning around technology-facilitated abuse, and police can act on unlawful tracking.

Where court proceedings are in play — protection orders or family law parenting matters — properly documented evidence makes a real difference. Digital Forensics Group offers discreet examination of suspected tracking devices and the accounts behind them, with court-ready reporting and evidence preservation. See our domestic violence assistance page, or contact us confidentially on +61 499 475 408 from a safe device.