Is your car revealing your location?

Remember when AirTags first came out? It didn’t take long before creeps started using them to track people. Victims were finding them in their bags, jackets and on their cars, you name it.

Apple finally made changes so that you’ll get an alert if someone is tracking you without your knowledge. Tracking cuts both ways. Yes, the tech got safer — but more people realized how easy it is to follow someone secretly. 

This is particularly scary if you’re in an abusive or unsafe relationship or know someone who is. Even if you’ve stopped sharing your location through your phone and taken other privacy measures, you might be forgetting another place: your car.

Driving me crazy

This report blew me away, and I deal with this stuff all the time. A woman shared the creepy story of how her abusive ex-husband tracked her through her Mercedes-Benz.

She moved away to stay with her daughter and noticed a weird message pop up on her car display. It mentioned a location-based service called “Mbrace,” so she looked it up online.

Turns out “Mbrace” is part of “Mercedes Me,” a collection of services accessed through a smartphone app. The woman used the app to make auto loan payments but didn’t know it could also be used to track location. 

One night, while visiting a male friend, her ex-husband texted the man a thumbs-up emoji. Even more frightening — A nearby camera caught his car driving in the area. Yeah, he was watching everywhere she went.

Blind spots

Horrified, the woman called Mercedes customer service to try to cut her ex-husband’s access from the car. But get this: Although she had been making payments, the car’s loan and title were in her ex’s name. Reps at Mercedes said her ex was a customer, so they couldn’t remove him from the app.

What’s even crazier is that she had a restraining order against him and was given sole use of the car in the divorce!

Desperate, she took her car to an independent mechanic and $400 later, the remote tracking feature of the vehicle was disabled — but not without also disabling the car’s navigation system and S.O.S. features.

Highway to the gray zone

Unfortunately, this poor lady’s story isn’t unique. It’s easier than you’d think for abusive partners to use internet-connected devices to track a victim’s location. I should know — I talk to these poor folks on my national radio show all the time.

Automakers don’t have a solution, but the Safe Connections Act could help. It’s a rule that lets domestic abuse victims cut their phones off from accounts shared with perpetrators. Time to get that extended to cars, which are now just computers on wheels.

Know anyone who should read this? Be a friend and pass it along. While you’re at it, this article might help if you’re worried about something digital in your life. And here’s how to tell if someone is tracking you with an AirTag.