Cheating Partners in Texas Are Protected by Law

In Texas, can you access your spouse's phone or vehicle and install a tracker on it, even if it's for sincere reasons? No... and yes. Let me explain.

Tracking a Spouse's Vehicle in Texas

Just because two people are married doesn't exempt them from surveillance laws. Under the Texas Penal Code, you commit a Class A misdemeanor if you knowingly install an electronic or mechanical tracking device on someone else's motor vehicle.

Here's the snag: what if the car is jointly owned by each spouse? Wouldn't you be tracking your own property and therefore not violating any laws?

Well, according to the State Bar of Texas, this does not constitute a violation. If, however, the vehicle was solely owned by the other spouse, then yes, placing a tracker on it would have been a misdemeanor, but because it was jointly owned, neither spouse has absolute authority over what can and cannot be done to the vehicle.

Tracking a Spouse's Phone in Texas

Here's the big one. Texas Penal Code states that it is a Class B misdemeanor OR FELONY to knowingly access a computer system without given consent of the owner. The State of Texas recognizes cell phones today as "computers".

According to Lundberg Law, the State of Texas prohibits monitoring a spouse's cell phone or their online accounts without express consent. This also includes tracking their social media activity without them knowing. 

Effective consent, in the eyes of Texas law, is more formal than just a "sure" from your spouse. You need a signed agreement stating they consent to their phone being tracked or you need a recorded conversation where they clearly consent to tracking for a specific purpose.

In one court case, Miller v. Talley Dunn Gallery, LLC, a man accessed his then-wife's cellphone while she was sleeping and looked at her screenshots and log information. The man claimed that the cellphone was community property and therefore did not need consent to access it.

Oopsy. Not quite.

The court rejected this claim as his wife was the explicit owner of that "computer" property and therefore written or recorded verbal consent was required for him to access it.

So, even in marriages, Texas still allows spouses to enjoy their digital privacy rights when it comes to accessing personal cell phones and vehicles.