# GPS tracking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347 "2011-03-29T04:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/1 "2011-03-29T04:10:36Z")
How feasible would it be to have a GPS tracking device hidden in a small-ish item that will be linked to a website, updating its location every day or so? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/2 "2011-03-29T04:48:11Z")
Did you try Googling on “GPS tracking website”? I got 2.5 million hits. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/3 "2011-03-29T04:50:55Z")
Sure, but what I’m more interested in is a) size and b) battery life. I’ve seen items the size of a small mobile phone, but that’s far too big. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/4 "2011-03-29T04:58:04Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > Sure, but what I’m more interested in is a) size and b) battery life. I’ve seen items the size of a small mobile phone, but that’s far too big. What you are asking for [will be the size of a small cell phone](http://www.spytechs.com/tracking-system-gps-100ct.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/5 "2011-03-29T05:00:02Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > What you are asking for [will be the size of a small cell phone](http://www.spytechs.com/tracking-system-gps-100ct.htm). That was my suspicion. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/6 "2011-03-29T06:41:32Z")
They can be a bit smaller: [Zoombak](http://www.zoombak.com/) And if you have a cell phone, some carriers let you track that via parental control. If you have a smartphone, there are apps that do this. If you’re trying to track a car or other powered object, you can probably hook it up to the power system and not have to worry about batteries. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/7 "2011-03-29T06:58:12Z")
Nevermind; they’re about the same size. Sorry, I was misled by the cell phone reference. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gps-tracking/576347/8 "2011-03-29T11:12:21Z")
Google Spy GPS. They will be the smallest. The batteries last longer or shorter, depending on how often you ask it to upload the GPS data.