Can Someone Track My Location with My Phone Number: All Tricks Explained

Did you know anyone can track your location only by your cell phone number? Many apps in the App Store or Play Market ask for permission to track your location, and if you grant access, you’re allowing them to monitor your movements. It’s not just apps – companies, hackers, and advertisers can also pinpoint your whereabouts using only your phone number. While location tracking can be helpful in some situations, like keeping an eye on your kids or elderly parents who need constant monitoring, there are times when you might want to avoid being tracked. 

Whether for privacy or personal reasons, we’re here to explore this issue and answer the question many people ask: How can someone track my location with my phone number? Well, let’s start. 

Can Someone Track My Phone, and How?

Nowadays, there are plenty of tools that can easily track your cell phone location. From web tracking to mobile spyware, there are many different methods that businesses, advertisers, marketologists, ordinary individuals, or even hackers can use to monitor your location. Let’s break down some of the most common ways this can happen. So, who can track my phone? 

• Web tracking and cookies: Every time you use the internet, websites use cookies to track your location, browsing habits, and your own preferences. Why is it done? It is a very useful trick companies use to create targeted ads. Although cookies may seem innocent, they can reveal a lot of your private data, such as your real-time location and online preferences. 
• Mobile spyware: Can someone track your phone number without you knowing? Mobile spyware is one of the most popular ways of tracking cell phones anonymously. Mobile spyware is an app that is secretly (in most cases) installed by someone on your phone to access your cell phone data. There are cases when you may accidentally download them disguised as harmless apps. 

Once installed, spyware reveals all your cell phone information, including real-time geolocation data. Not only this. They can access your contact book, browser history, text messages, media files, social media activities (access to DMs, shared files, etc.), call logs, and even listen to your conversations. As a rule, they work in stealth mode, which makes it impossible for the monitored person to detect them. Examples of such apps are uMobix and SpyBubble.

• Online trackers: Online trackers are not only about website tracking; many social media platforms, IM apps, and even apps you download can track your location. For example, if you use social media applications that share your location by default, your movements are recorded even if you’re not actively using the app.
• Default GPS sharing: Most of smartphones have an in-built GPS feature, making tracking your exact location easy. Many apps, like maps or rideshare services, need GPS to work and will ask for access to your location. If you’re not careful with your settings, this information might be shared with more people than expected. Also, if you’re using an unsecured network (like public WiFi), hackers could intercept your GPS data and find out where you are.
• Phone number trackers: Many tools can quickly detect anyone’s location in real-time, even if you do not have access to the target device to install an app. Reliable trackers like GEOfinder allow users to track someone’s location simply by entering their phone number. Can your phone number be tracked if GEOfinder is not installed on your smartphone? Yes. The app doesn’t need to be installed on the target phone. Instead, the person being tracked receives an SMS with a link. When they click the link, they unknowingly give access to their location data, allowing for legal tracking. 

How Can I Tell If Someone Is Tracking My Phone?

Do you worry about your sensitive data safety? How can someone track my location with my phone number and how to detect it? Well, here are a few signs that can help you out. 

• Arrow icon: Do you see a small arrow icon on the top right corner of your smartphone? If the answer is “yes”, it means an app or service currently uses your location. Nevertheless, there are three types of arrows you must pay attention to:

1. Solid arrow –  means that an app is currently tracking your location data.
2. Hollow arrow – means that an app has recently accessed your location data.
3. Grey arrow – is visible in your phone location services’ settings when an app has tracked your location in the past 24 hrs.

• Colored dots for microphone and camera: How can your phone number be tracked? Noticing orange or green dots on your iPhone will tell you about that. With iOS 14 or later, an orange dot, an orange square, or a green dot indicates when an app is using the microphone (orange) or camera (green).

• Quick battery drain: Can someone track my location with my phone number if a smartphone’s battery drains faster than usual? Yes. It can be because of hiddenly installed location tracker apps on your cell phone that constantly run in the background. 
• Odd notifications and pop-ups: Is my phone being tracked? If you frequently see odd pop-ups and messages on your smartphone, it might be because a tracking app or spyware is installed on it.

Who Can’t Track My Phone?

While location tracking can help find your child or a missing friend in real-time, there are situations where it’s far less welcome, like when organizations, the government, or hackers are tracking you. Well, let’s talk about each of them separately.

Parents and Relatives

Parents and family members can track your cell phone number and location for safety reasons; when you have a chronic disease or when there are cases when you need supervision (to detect possible problems at school), using cell phone trackers may be helpful. However, it is allowed only if you are under 18 and live under the same roof as your parents/caregivers or when you provide permission. Most modern phones have privacy settings that help prevent unauthorized tracking, giving you control over who can see your location.

Websites, Online Platforms, and Apps

Many websites and apps can easily track your location. However, they cannot do it without your consent. You can manage these permissions in your device settings so only approved apps can access your location data. Disabling location tracking for unnecessary apps is a good habit to maintain privacy.

Marketing Campaigns

Businesses use your location data for their marketing campaigns. However, it is possible only with your permission. If you need to avoid it, you can turn off location services for ad-based apps or use privacy-focused browser settings that limit tracking.

Government Bodies

Although the government can track your location data, they usually need permission from a court, like a warrant. In some countries, the rules might be less strict, allowing more tracking. Nevertheless, switching off your location-sharing services on your cell phone can help you prevent this problem. 

Scammers

It is not a secret that hackers can easily access your location data through malicious apps or by exploiting security vulnerabilities. Therefore, you should visit only reliable websites and not move to suspicious links that may be sent on your cell phone via SMS, social media platforms, email, or IM apps. Use strong passwords, and enable a VPN to add extra security and protect your smartphone from hacker attacks. 

How to Prevent Unwanted Tracking

Now that you know the answer to “How can you be tracked by your phone number?”, you will be interested in safeguarding yourself. Despite the many ways and methods known to assist you, only a few are really effective. Most of them are simple and thus do not require any special skills to be used. Here are a few of them: 

Check for Hidden Spy Apps

Spyware or tracking apps might be installed on your phone without your knowledge. Therefore, you should regularly scan your device for unfamiliar apps or suspicious activity using security software to ensure no one is secretly tracking you.

Turn Off Default Location Sharing

Many apps and services track your location by default. So go to your phone’s settings and turn off location sharing for apps and services that don’t need it, or simply turn off the location sharing feature on your cell phone when you do not need it. 

Review Permissions Provided to Different Services

Did you know that when downloading a new app, they may request access to your location, contacts, and other personal data? So, to check what apps you provided permissions, take your phone and remove access for those apps that don’t need it.

Remove Unknown Apps

Is my phone being tracked? To find the answer, check your smartphone for unknown apps you do not remember ever installing. Found any? Delete them immediately. 

When Is Phone Number Tracking Acceptable?

So, when can you be tracked by your phone number? There are a few cases when cell phone number tracking is acceptable:

• Monitoring kids to ensure their safety.
• Keeping an eye on elderly parents who may need round-the-clock supervision.
• Tracking family members, but only with their consent- whether it’s your spouse, sibling, or another relative

In other situations, you’ll need to ask someone for permission to install an app on their device and adjust certain settings to enable you to track their phone activities.

GEOfinder: Your Best Solution for Legal, Safe, and Anonymous Cell Phone Number Monitoring

GEOfinder is a great way to locate children and people you care about. As a web-based platform, it encrypts your data and operates anonymously, ensuring privacy while tracking someone’s location. It can track the location data of any cell phone model, operating system, carrier, or network worldwide, so you’re not limited by device type. Can someone track your phone number if you use a VPN to hide your exact location data? Yes. With GEOfinder, it is possible. 

So, how can someone track your location by phone number with GEOfinder?

1. Go to the GEOfinder website and enter the target’s cell phone number into the search box.
2. Attach a link to an image or URL and send the SMS. 
3. The device owner receives it with a link. 
4. Once they click the link, their location data will be shared with you.

Overall, GEOfinder enhances your ability to ensure the safety of your loved ones while maintaining their privacy and security.

Conclusion

Knowing the answer to “How can someone track my location with my phone number?” makes it easier to protect yourself from this kind of danger. Although tracking someone’s location without their permission is prohibited, it is legal to do so when the target person is your kid, elderly parent, or a relative who requires full-time monitoring because of health disorders, age, or other issues. 

Tools like GEOfinder make it easy to locate loved ones while ensuring privacy and data security. This web-based phone number tracker can pin down any cell phone globally, regardless of the device or network, and can even bypass VPNs to reveal accurate locations. Having the one in your arsenal, you can be certain you will help your dearest and nearest in an emergency!