Most people accept phone monitoring as part of using technology. For example, it is one of the conditions people accept when they sign up to social media. However, it is a problem if you do not consent to the monitoring.

Strangers can install software on your phone to monitor your activities. As a result, you may notice that your phone is behaving strangely.

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Look for these signs that someone is tracking your phone, then use the steps below to prevent strangers from tracking your online activity.

What are the signs of telephone surveillance?

Tech guide website MakeUseOf says the first thing you need to do is check unknown apps. If you find an unknown icon on your phone, confirm that it is not part of an official update.

If it doesn’t, that’s a red flag for phone tracking. You should also check if your overall app data usage is higher than normal. You can check this information in your phone’s Settings app.

Open your browser history and check if it shows any websites you haven’t visited. If so, malware may have accessed those sites without your permission.

Another telltale sign of phone monitoring is battery drain. Due to a malicious program, your mobile device might run out of battery faster than usual.

However, this does not mean that everything you do is tracked. For example, the hacker can see what you browse but not your messages.

Affected devices may also randomly light up and freeze without receiving any notifications. Sometimes a quick restart fixes the problem, or your phone may have a hardware failure.

If these points do not apply to your device, it may contain a phone tracking program. Other warning signs include frequent overheating and suspicious permission requests.

How to stop someone from tracking your phone

The United States National Security Agency recommends restarting your device weekly to prevent phone-tracking malware.

Neal Ziring, technical director of the NSA’s Capabilities Directorate, acknowledged to the Associated Press that rebooting a phone cannot prevent more complex attacks.

“Many modern cyber attacks are a chain of two, three or even more vulnerabilities in a row that must be successfully exploited…”

“…You can send the opponent back to the beginning of that chain and force them to go through the whole thing again,” he explained. For more information on this method, see this other Inquirer Tech article.

Cybersecurity company AVG recommends disabling location services to prevent malware from determining your location. You can turn this feature off from your phone’s quick settings or Settings app.

In settings, turn off Bluetooth and check app permissions. Check if there are any suspicious apps that have too much access to your phone and delete them.

You can download and install an antivirus program, but the best way to prevent phone surveillance is to practice proper online etiquette. Read this article from Inquirer USA for internet safety tips.