Is It Legal to Put a GPS Tracker on My Spouse's Car?

In most states, if you jointly own the vehicle, either owner can legally place a GPS tracker on it — courts generally treat joint ownership as sufficient authorization.

If the vehicle is solely in your spouse's name, tracking it without consent is legally risky in most jurisdictions and outright illegal in several, including California, Texas, and New York, which have specific statutes addressing unauthorized tracking.

A handful of states have no specific statute either way, which does not mean it's automatically safe — stalking and harassment laws can still apply.

Before installing anything, confirm your state's specific law. This is one of the few areas in this process where a wrong move can create legal exposure for you, not just for the person you're investigating.