Is someone monitoring my phone? How to find out and act safely

Your safety comes first

• In danger right now: call 190, the police in Brazil.
• For guidance: call 180, the Women’s Support Hotline. The call is free and works 24 hours a day, every day. Also on WhatsApp +55 61 9610-0180 and at central180@mulheres.gov.br. Service is in Portuguese.
• Use another device to search and ask for help. A phone that is being watched can show whoever is watching what you look up — including this guide.
• Do not remove anything yet. Taking out a spy app, or changing every password at once, can alert whoever is watching. In an abusive relationship, that can increase the risk. Make a plan first — ideally with support.

It happens more than people think

It can happen to anyone — and it happens far more to women, almost always through a partner or ex-partner. Watching someone like that is not care and it is not jealousy: it is violence, and it is a crime.

The signs

Some clues that someone has access to what is yours:

• They know about conversations, places or photos you never told them about.
• They turn up where you are without being told.
• The phone runs hot, the battery drains fast, or data use rises for no reason.
• Apps appear that you did not install, or settings change that you did not change.

None of these signs proves anything on its own. And the most common cause is not a spy app at all: it is someone having the password to one of your accounts, or a location share that was left switched on.

Check what is not an app first

Accounts and linked devices

• WhatsApp: Settings › Linked devices. An unknown computer here reads all of your conversations.
• Google account: myaccount.google.com/device-activity lists every device with access to your account.
• Apple: Settings › tap your name. The device list is at the bottom of the screen.
• Instagram and Facebook: Accounts Center › Password and security › Where you’re logged in.

Shared location

• Google Maps: tap your profile picture › Location sharing.
• iPhone: in the Find My app, the People tab. If you stop sharing here, the person is not notified — you simply disappear from their list.
• Family and tracking apps, the «find my family» kind: check whether any is installed and switched on.

A hidden tracker

Small trackers, like an AirTag, can be hidden in a bag or a car. An iPhone warns you when an unknown tracker travels with you. On Android 12 or newer, the path is Settings › Safety & emergency › Unknown tracker alerts, and you can run a scan right there.

One detail that matters: when you find the tracker, you can tap Play sound to locate it by ear, and whoever placed it is not told that you did. Save your evidence first, because Android deletes the alerts after 48 hours.

Check the phone

On iPhone

Use Safety Check, under Settings › Privacy & Security. It was built for exactly this: it shows who you share location and data with, and the Emergency Reset option cuts everything at once — every person and every app.

A spy app on an iPhone is rare — it almost always depends on your Apple Account password. So on an iPhone the most important thing is protecting that account: a new password and two-factor authentication.

On Android

Names vary a little between manufacturers. If you cannot find something, use the search in Settings.

• Device admin apps (under Security): be suspicious of any you do not recognise.
• Accessibility: a spy app usually asks for this access in order to read the screen. Check for any you do not know.
• Google Play Protect: in the Play Store, tap your profile picture › Play Protect. Check that it is on — whoever installs a spy app usually turns it off — and run a scan.

Save evidence before changing anything

Photograph the screen, preferably with another device: strange apps, linked devices, messages, threats. Note the dates and what the person knew without you having told them. This is what supports a police report and a request for a protective order.

When you decide to act

With a safety plan in place:

1. From a safe device, change the passwords of your main accounts. Start with e-mail and the Google or Apple account.
2. Turn on two-step verification.
3. Disconnect devices you do not recognise and switch off location sharing.
4. If there is a spy app, the safest way to remove it is a factory reset — without restoring an old backup, which can bring it back.

This is a crime, and you have a right to protection

In Brazil:

• Stalking someone, including online, is a crime (article 147-A of the Penal Code).
• Breaking into someone’s phone or accounts is a crime (article 154-A of the Penal Code).
• Against a woman, constant surveillance and stalking are forms of psychological violence under the Maria da Penha Law, which guarantees urgent protective measures. Psychological violence against a woman is also a crime (article 147-B of the Penal Code).

Where to ask for help

• 190 — police, in an emergency.
• 180 — Women’s Support Hotline: free, 24 hours. WhatsApp +55 61 9610-0180.
• Women’s Police Station, or any police station — and your state’s online police station.
• Public Defender’s Office — free legal guidance, including to request a protective order.
• SaferNet Brasil Helpline — anonymous and confidential guidance on online violence.

If your account was taken over, see also My account was hacked: what to do now.