Can People Track Your Phone Number? What You Need to Know

Brandon Way - April 16, 2024

Phone numbers are what we use to communicate with each other, so it’s usually a type of public information. This means that people can access your phone number to get in touch with you, whether you give it to them or if they find it on their own. However, you might be wondering, can people track your phone number?

While anyone can know your phone number, knowing and tracking your phone number are two different things. For example, you can know someone’s phone number without knowing where the holder of the phone number is at all times; this would be tracking.

Unfortunately, people can track your phone number with the right tools. You want to make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself online and when downloading apps or programs to avoid people stalking your online behavior.

The good news is that CheckPeople.com is here to help. Read on to learn more about how people can track you with a phone number and how you can protect yourself.

Can Someone Track Your Phone Number?

Yes, someone can track your phone number with the right tools. People can track your location, who you speak with, and even your online preferences.

While this isn’t something that everyone can do, some people will try to trick you into giving them information, or they may use other methods to track your phone number. Regardless of the reason or method, it’s something that you should keep an eye on and know about to prevent it from happening to you.

How Do You Know If Someone Is Tracking Your Phone?

It’s not always easy to know if someone is tracking your phone number. This is because it depends on how they’re tracking your device.

For example, you can figure it out quickly if they installed an app or malicious files on your phone. These apps and files can be found if you look through your device’s files and apps – even if they’re hidden, you can usually find an app that you didn’t download.

Another way you can tell if someone is tracking you is by checking permissions. If your maps app has location settings on, your phone number might be tracked.

How Can People Track Your Phone Number?

People can track your phone number in multiple ways. Some of the most common ways include cellular triangulation, tracing the IP address your phone is using (your online phone number essentially), and Bluetooth beacons.

All of these methods can be leveraged by hackers, your family, and even advertising companies. Learn more about the common phone number tracking methods below.

Cellular Triangulation

One of the most popular ways for someone to track your phone is to use cellular triangulation. This method is one of the most popular methods because it’s used by the government, law enforcement, and sometimes private companies.

It’s also one of the few tracking methods that can be used to help you or to catch criminals. For example, cellular triangulation can pinpoint someone’s location if they’re running away from the police. Cellular triangulation can also help people who are kidnapped if they manage to make a phone call.

Triangulation works by analyzing cellular data from at least three cell towers. Cell companies can then track the signal to the device that they want to track. The good news is that your phone provider won’t share this information with anyone unless it’s requested by law.

IP Address

Your smartphone likely has an IP address attached to it when it visits websites or downloads apps. This address is like a phone number or address but for your online activities.

Unfortunately, some websites will store information about your IP address and use it to track your location. This might not reveal your exact location, but there’s a good chance that it will give someone an idea about where you’re located.

IP addresses are public when you visit websites, so this isn’t always something you can hide or prevent.

GPS Tracking

GPS technology has improved drastically over the last decade. While you used to need a large GPS device to navigate, now you can get around with your smartphone. Having your smartphone function as a GPS is helpful, but it’s not perfect.

For example, if you leave location settings on, then Google, Snapchat, and other apps can track your location and data. That said, it doesn’t have to be all bad. For example, you can share your location with your friends and family and this can help them keep you safe. Still, it’s important to know how companies track your data and how GPS apps can end up tracking you.

Bluetooth Beacons

One of the more recent ways to track a device is a Bluetooth beacon. When someone tracks your phone this way, it’s not directly tied to your phone number. Instead, it’s tied to the Bluetooth signal that your phone emits, especially if you have Bluetooth settings turned on.

Many companies will use this method to track where you are in their retail store to see if their marketing is effective. These beacons are usually small enough for you to miss, so remain careful when walking through certain stores.

Why Would Someone Track Your Phone Number?

Phone number tracking might not seem useful, but it can help people keep you safe or take advantage of you. Depending on the person or company tracking you, both of these tracking reasons can be true.

Learn about some of the reasons that people will track your phone number below. Understanding someone’s motivations can help you prevent problems from developing in the future.

Keeping You Safe

Starting with something positive, friends and family members might track your phone number to keep you safe. If you allow them to track your location, they can see where you go and make sure that you make it home when you leave the house.

When people track your phone number this way, you’ll usually know about it because you have to give them access to track you. You can also have them stop tracking you at any time, so it’s one of the safer methods of phone tracking.

Scamming You

People may track your phone number to try to scam you. If someone has your phone number and knows where you are, it can be frightening to hear them recite this to you. The good news is that most of these scams are empty threats because there isn’t much they can do with just a phone number.

This only becomes a problem if they have most of your personal information or your Social Security number. Therefore, if someone calls you asking for personal details, make sure you don’t tell them anything.

Selling You Something

This one might seem strange, but people will track your phone number to sell you something. Advertisers will track your phone number to see where you go, stores you visit, and sometimes even what websites you visit.

This can result in messages in your inbox, text message promotions, and even phone calls. People who want to sell you something may even purchase information about your phone number.

Who Can Track Your Phone Number?

Many people, apps, and companies can track your phone number. In fact, it’s likely more than you think, with advertisers making billions of dollars in data from having access to someone’s information.

Most of the people or companies that track your phone aren’t malicious, so you usually don’t have anything to worry about. That said, some people can track your phone number for malicious reasons, so it’s important to understand all of the people and entities that can track your phone number.

Apps and Website

Apps and websites can track your phone number, location, and other information about your device. Companies that make apps or websites use this information to send you emails, text messages, or other promotional material – sometimes even with your address.

Most of these apps will run in the background if you let them, but some apps and websites will only track your phone when you’re using them. Unfortunately, many apps and websites will hide this in their terms and conditions, so you might agree to this type of data tracking without even having a proper warning – terms and conditions can be thousands of words and people usually click right through them.

Some apps and websites are also designed to track your phone number. For example, Google Maps uses GPS signals to give you precise information about your location. You know who else knows about your precise location when you use their service? Google. Therefore, you need to be careful and know that apps and websites are doing this to avoid problems. Other apps like Snapchat also track your location using your phone number and GPS.

Fortunately, you can avoid this type of phone tracking by disabling the apps or not using them at all. You can also revoke permissions for apps that do this.

Advertising Companies

You know who really wants your phone number and location data? Advertising companies. While most advertising companies want to track your phone number information to sell you something, it’s still an invasion of privacy.

Unfortunately, advertisers might not even ask you for this information. Instead, they might check how you scroll on certain apps or purchase your data from social media platforms. Technically, this is something you consent to when you agree to the terms and conditions. Therefore, it’s hard to enjoy social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn without agreeing to those terms and conditions.

Another way that advertisers can track your phone number and phone information is through a Bluetooth beacon. These can be placed around retail stores to see how well a marketing plan is working. As you walk through the store, the Bluetooth transmitters will ping your device and record data about how long you spent in a specific location or how fast you moved through the store.

The only way to avoid this type of phone number tracking is to remain vigilant about who you share your data with. For example, you can make a note of social media platforms you use and only use platforms that don’t share your data. This can help you avoid sharing data with advertisers who can then send you text messages, emails, and even letters in the mail.

Friends and Family

Let’s move onto something a little more positive. While it’s true that many apps, websites, and advertisers track your phone number, you can also let your friends and family members track your phone.

For example, you can turn on location settings with Snapchat to ensure that your friends and family have a way to track your location; this only works if you share it with them. Some smartphones like iPhones have location sharing settings built into the device as well. This makes it easy for other iPhones to track your location using your phone number and GPS location.

While friends and family can track your phone for positive reasons, it can also be malicious. Plenty of apps and spyware can be installed on your device to track your location.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to know if you have these apps installed or who installed them if you never notice symptoms like battery drain. This is because these apps are mostly downloaded and masked as a different app. Therefore, you need to check your device’s usage to be sure you don’t have anything like this installed.

The only way to avoid this type of tracking is to not share your location information with friends and family. However, we recommend sharing it with people you can trust for your safety. For example, if you’re on a first date with someone, you can share your location with your friends so they can keep an eye on you.

Hackers

Hackers are also out there. We know that this term can be frightening, but most hackers can only get to your device’s location or other sensitive information if you let them.

To gain access to your device, hackers will usually try to get you to sign into a duplicate WiFi signal at a popular place like Starbucks or create a duplicate fake app in the app store. For example, if you see Starbucks Guest WiFi (1), it could be a hacker trying to get into your device. Another example would be if you saw an app that looks like PayPal but it’s called something like PayPal Plus – there’s a good chance that it’s a scam app used to get your login data for PayPal.

Unfortunately, hackers can also do this with websites. The most common example is a phishing link. Phishing links usually take you to a scam website that steals your personal data, and the damage is done the second you click the link. A common version of this scam is the Apple ID phishing link scam. Hackers will try and get into your Apple ID which contains information about your phone number and other important details.

Hackers can also leverage your phone number if they can find it, and they can usually find it using a public records search tool. Once they have your phone number, hackers can:

• Try and access your personal identity by submitting your phone number if it’s the last verification they need
• Intercept your messages and phone calls if they have access to your phone provider and phone number
• Commit fraud by stealing your identity

Hackers are creative with their methods and may try to get at your information in numerous ways. Always remain vigilant and avoid giving your phone number or personal information to strangers.

Government Agencies

One of the most common entities to track your phone number with or without your permission is the government. The United States government and law enforcement organizations can track your phone number by triangulation via cellular towers. This allows them to find where you are by pinging your phone’s signal between a handful of cell towers.

The only way to prevent this type of tracking is to turn your phone off, or in some cases, remove the battery. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), this is known as lawful interception. This allows the government to access someone’s data without breaching the law.

It’s also important to note that the government can behave like a private company in some cases. For example, they might purchase data from data brokers to find your location instead of relying on cell towers. What makes this worse is that the government can then predict your behavior because they have more information than just your location.

While this may seem frightening or like an invasion of your privacy, there’s no need to panic. The government may track your information, but they don’t usually arrest you for anything unless you’re on some type of FBI watchlist or are a criminal. Therefore, for the average American, there isn’t much to worry about. You can also minimize the impact of government tracking if you use prepaid phones and keep a low internet profile.

How to Prevent People from Tracking Your Phone Number

People can track your phone number, but that doesn’t mean you have to let them. There are steps you can take to prevent people from tracking your phone number. These steps usually include checking your device for malware, checking to see battery usage, and turning off permissions for certain online apps.

While it’s not always easy to know when someone is tracking you, follow some of our tips below to keep your phone number and devices secure.

Then Off Location Settings

One of the best methods to prevent someone from tracking your phone number is to turn off location settings. This can be done by going into your settings and looking for the small map marker. Once you turn off location settings, people won’t be able to view your location.

If you’re still worried, you can put your phone on airplane mode or turn off your device. This can prevent people who have access to your GPS data from tracking your location. Most devices have location settings that you can turn off, so this should also be possible on a tablet, laptop, or any other devices that have your phone number connected.

Checking Your Battery Usage

The best way to tell if someone is tracking your phone is to check your device’s battery usage. When your device is using more battery, something is running in the background.

You can take this a step further and go into your device’s battery settings to see what apps are draining your battery. If you notice duplicate versions of your apps or any apps you didn’t install on your device, you might have malicious software in your smartphone.

Thankfully, you can remove this software by deleting the app. This should solve the problem, but if you’ve found a malicious app on your phone, we recommend expanding your search. Check your device’s files and look for strange files you didn’t download – make sure you delete those files, too.

Remove Permissions

One of the best things you can do to prevent apps from tracking your location is to remove permissions. Most apps require permission to track your location. For example, Google Maps and Snapchat ask for permission to track your location and data surrounding your phone number.

Usually, you have to turn on permissions in your device’s settings and allow the app to do so. However, you should check because apps like Google Maps automatically do this and come installed on Samsung and Google Pixel devices.

This also applies to some websites. While websites won’t have permissions like apps, they do ask you to accept cookies. When you accept cookies, websites can harvest some of your data.

Some websites won’t allow you to visit them without cookies, so avoid visiting websites that ask if you don’t want your data being sold, traded, or transferred to other sources. That said, most websites use this information for internal tracking and not malicious intent.

Only Share Your Phone Number With People You Can Trust

One of the best ways to prevent people from tracking your phone number is to only give your phone number to people you can trust. Aside from your phone number, you should also avoid sharing your address, passwords, or any important information about yourself with anyone unless you know and can trust them.

If someone contacts you claiming to be from a company or someone you know, make sure you verify the phone number with our reverse phone lookup tool. Check every number that calls you, especially if they’re asking for your personal details.

Unfortunately, with innovations in the AI space, there is software that can replicate people’s voices, so you should even be cautious of your friends and family. While it may seem excessive, remaining vigilant about who’s calling you is the best way to protect yourself from being tracked.

Don’t Give Anyone Access to Your Device

Giving people access to your device is a bad idea. Whether it’s a stranger or someone claiming to install software that can fix your device, don’t let anyone download anything, especially if you don’t know its purpose or if it’s even safe.

We also recommend avoiding downloading anything that looks suspicious or clicking links on forums or in your email. In fact, even text message links can expose you to phishing scams, so avoid clicking links from people you don’t know. If you’re ever concerned about who’s texting or contacting you we recommend using our phone lookup services.

Protect Yourself from Phone Number Tracking

Many people can track your phone, but usually only if you let them. Once you know the common methods that people use to track your phone number information, stopping them in their tracks becomes a breeze.

While you can use our phone number lookup tool to keep yourself safe when speaking with people or texting with people, you still have to remain vigilant. Avoid downloading suspicious apps or visiting websites that don’t look familiar. Additionally, make sure you turn off location permissions to avoid any problems with apps you have installed tracking your data.