Welcome to the Lafayette Process Servers LLC podcast.
Can Process Servers Track Your Phone?
Process servers have access to information that not many people have. They have the right to use private data to ensure that legal documents are delivered and received to the specified party.
However, some people do their best to avoid being served court papers with the mistaken notion that they can do so. Many people think that they cannot be sued if there is no evidence that they received a legal document.
This mindset can lead them to turn to absurd actions to hide from process servers. However, process servers have many resources to track down a person who has been summoned to court.
But can they track your phone?
How Process Servers Find You
Process servers have to follow certain steps to locate the specified party and serve documents.
They must find the person’s contact information to ensure that they live in their known address or can be contacted directly. Once they have verified the address, the process server will go to the location and attempt to serve the papers there.
Aside from the person’s personal and business addresses, process servers will also use the following information to ensure that they can find who they are looking for:
- Vehicle plates and vehicle description
- Mobile phone number
- Details about their workplace
- Physical description or photo
- Times and dates that the subject is most likely to respond or be present
All of this information will be used to contact the party involved. They may opt to use the person’s work address and other job details if the papers are business-related.
Ideally, the papers should be served at the place of residence or workplace. However, if they encounter issues when trying to locate a person, process servers explore other alternatives to track them down.
But can process servers track you using your mobile phone? Process servers usually do not rely on mobile phone contact confirmation to serve papers.
Skip Tracing
Process servers may use skip tracing to find a person who cannot be located or whose present location is unknown.
A skip tracer is a person who is hired to find a subject’s last known location through the following information:
- Last known residential/business address
- Last known phone number
- Email information
- Social security number
- Date of birth
- Family background and history
- Employment history
- Last known workplace
Skip tracers will check traditional and digital databases to locate the subject. They also have the option to use GPS to track particularly elusive individuals.
Tracking Your Phone
In the United States, a warrant is required to track a mobile phone. There are specific grounds that cover the issuance of this type of warrant, and law enforcement must ensure that the case falls under these grounds.
Police can track a person’s phone by pinging nearby cell towers.
However, process servers do not need to resort to tracking a person’s mobile phone. They will rely on existing contact information to locate the subject and serve the papers.
Some states have strict regulations about what process servers can do to serve legal documents, and often it does not cover mobile phone tracking technology.
Process Serving in the Future
Some lawmakers in the US are trying to change the ways process servers deliver legal documents. Understanding the need for courts and the legal system to resolve cases, some states are now welcoming the use of technology when serving court documents.
The foregoing podcast has simply been presented for informational purposes only. He or those at Lafayette Process Servers LLC, are not attorneys. If you seek further information about this topic, please make sure to contact an attorney in your local area.
References:
Texas Supreme Court says court papers can now be served through social media, 4 September 2020, valley.central.com https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/texas-supreme-court-says-court-papers-can-now-be-served-through-social-media/
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