How to Spot Unwanted GPS Trackers
Tracking devices that use GPS technology to locate vehicles and offer additional information about them are helpful both for personal purposes and for professional use. Such smart gadgets help people track the precise location of their friends and family members. You can access their live location and either prevent danger or help in an emergency. Professionals use GPS trackers for monitoring the company automobiles.
The transport and logistic industries are the ones that make the most use of these devices, but there are also employers who use trackers to monitor employees. Although such devices facilitate gaining certain information about a car in order to help people and improve services, trackers are unfortunately used in unethical ways, as well. It’s easy for others, especially professionals, to plant GPS trackers in your car without your consent or awareness.
This represents criminal activity, as it’s seen as an invasion of privacy. If you have any reason to believe that your car has a GPS tracker, then you should try to inspect it yourself, or even better, ask a professional to do it, as there are certain types of trackers which only mechanics can identify. You may not know exactly where to begin your inspection or what to even look for. Continue reading this article by FitMyTracker to discover some tips about how to identify unwanted GPS trackers in your vehicle.
How to spot tracking devices
Here are the three ways you could find an unwanted car tracker:
- Perform your own inspection: Search the glove compartment and all the other storage spaces, look under the seats, then check the rear bumper and wheel wells.
- Use tracker detectors: They work by emitting a sharp sound when you get close to the tracking device, so they’ll be able to point you in the right direction.
- Ask for a professional’s help: In case you’ve already inspected your car and you’ve used a detector, as well, and you still couldn’t find a GPS tracker in the vehicle, you should hire a professional. Mechanics have the necessary training, so they will be able to help you find the unwanted tracking device.
Types of car trackers
There are three types of GPS car trackers you should be aware of. They are the following:
Wired and battery-powered trackers
The size of these GPS devices is small and the shape is either rectangular or oval. A wired tracker, as the name suggests, needs wires to be plugged in, so if you can spot any, that will lead you to it. A battery-powered tracking device, however, has its own battery, so you won’t see wires.
OBD trackers
OBD stands for on-board diagnostics, which is the system that controls the automated functions of a car. It’s typically located in the dashboard under the steering wheel. That’s where you should be looking for such tracking devices.
Hard-wired trackers
These ones are professionally installed beneath a vehicle’s dashboard. They can only be detected by a trained mechanic. Such trackers are also difficult to plant, since they have to be installed in a professional way. This is why it’s highly unlikely that someone would actually do this to your car, but it’s always safer to check.
