When Lisa* left her abusive partner, he hid a tracking device on her car.

In the five months they'd been together, he'd installed spyware on her phone and used fake social media accounts to monitor her page.

He always knew where she was.

But the worst thing he used technology for still haunts her today.

"He wouldn't let me leave the house to see my beautician, so I had a mobile lady who would come to give massages and do my Brazilian [wax]," she says.

"He'd set up a camera in the bookcase."

On his laptop seized by police, a video of Lisa and her beauty therapist was found.

"That's hard. Really hard," she says.

"How many people [throughout the legal proceedings] would have seen my body?"

The use of devices to track, stalk and monitor women is becoming increasingly common in domestic and family violence.

When fleeing an abusive relationship, completing a tech cleanse can help protect you from harm.

We spoke to several experts for advice on what women can do themselves, and seek help with, when cleansing their homes and electronics of tracking devices and software.

How perpetrators are tracking their victims

"We are constantly surprised in terms of the ingenuity some people choose to use these devices to track and stalk," says Robyn Roberts, general manager of a private security firm that works with The Salvation Army on its Safer in the Home program.

Tracking devices in vehicles and spyware software in electronics are common.

Increasingly, children are being used. Devices have been found in kids' backpacks, stuffed toys or sewn into the bottom of their jackets, explains the firm's managing director Steve Wilson.

"Whether it's following [a partner] on social media, looking at locations through Google, logging into her email and reading sensitive emails her solicitor has sent — I find [tech abuse] is quite common," says Mr Wilson, who has a police background.

Ms Roberts, who helped develop the Safer in the Home program, says even the most tech-savvy people get caught out.

"Even when a young woman who is IT savvy said, 'I've got this, I know all about Google, it's fine', we sat down and soon found she had been tracked to her safe motel where she was staying with her baby," she says.

"Some of the [tracking] items are very easily available and innocuous everyday things, like the tile [which you can stick to keys or a phone, for example] you can get from retail stores."

Abusers are hiding tracking devices in children's items like soft toys. ( Unsplash: Annie Spratt )

'You can't continue daily life'

The impacts of cyber stalking on a victim can range from hypervigilance through to physical harm.

"It's a feeling of being constantly monitored and harassed … you can't continue your daily life," Ms Roberts says.

"That can lead to mental health issues and have a ripple effect on children."

Mr Wilson says women in small country towns can feel particularly paranoid or disbelieved, because the chances of seeing her perpetrator, such as at the local supermarket, are increased.

"Everyone might be telling her it's coincidence, but she knows it's not."

Taking away technology isn't the answer

Simply removing technology from a victim's life is not feasible, explains Ms Roberts.

"It's vital for keeping connected with children, family and friends as well the wider community so the best solution where there is abuse is not just to turn it all off."

She says before removing a device or an online presence, it's important to consider the implications of that.

It could alert an abuser and escalate the abusive behaviour or cut the victim off from important connections.

The devices can also be used as evidence in legal proceedings, Ms Roberts says.

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What you can do yourself (or ask a service to help you with)

There are steps people can take to protect themselves from cyber stalking when leaving a relationship.

(If you're still in a relationship, it can be tricker as mentioned above. In these cases it's recommended you seek support to help navigate the best action to take, either from your local support centre or 1800RESPECT.)

Services like Brisbane Domestic Violence Service (BDVS) help victims fleeing abusive relationships upgrade their tech safety, and some of these things you may be able to do yourself.

We compiled this list with its help and that of Ms Roberts and Mr Wilson:

Source an alternative second-hand or inexpensive mobile phone to use until you feel confident that your other phone is not relaying your location and private information.

Source an alternative second-hand or inexpensive mobile phone to use until you feel confident that your other phone is not relaying your location and private information. With your current phone, reset it from within the Settings menu to remove tracking or spyware apps (write down your contacts first and back-up items like photos and music onto a computer if they aren't on your SD card as these will be lost).

With your current phone, reset it from within the Settings menu to remove tracking or spyware apps (write down your contacts first and back-up items like photos and music onto a computer if they aren't on your SD card as these will be lost). Run the device through an antivirus program such as Avast.

Run the device through an antivirus program such as Avast. Turn off the GPS function/location sharing to stop location tracking. If you need a GPS to get around, try to use a separate device, such as an in-car navigator that's not connected to your phone.

Turn off the GPS function/location sharing to stop location tracking. If you need a GPS to get around, try to use a separate device, such as an in-car navigator that's not connected to your phone. Turn off family sharing and connected accounts.

Turn off family sharing and connected accounts. With Google, it is important to turn off "location History and Web and App activity".

With Google, it is important to turn off "location History and Web and App activity". Turn off your phone and only use it in an emergency.

Turn off your phone and only use it in an emergency. In your Google and Apple accounts, for example, remove any unknown devices that are linked.

In your Google and Apple accounts, for example, remove any unknown devices that are linked. Regularly delete your internet search history, or switch to a browser or search engine that prioritises privacy

Regularly delete your internet search history, or switch to a browser or search engine that prioritises privacy Set up an alternative email account.

Set up an alternative email account. Change your passwords on devices and for accounts that you regularly use, like social media, PayPal, MyGov and Google. Your password should consist of more than eight characters and include random characters, numbers and letters.

Change your passwords on devices and for accounts that you regularly use, like social media, PayPal, MyGov and Google. Your password should consist of more than eight characters and include random characters, numbers and letters. Change your privacy settings on social media.

For more in-depth protection, domestic violence services can help put you in touch with experts who can complete a tech sweep of your home and devices.

"A tech specialist will come to the home or the person's place of work and do a full sweep of everything," Belinda Cox from BDVS says.

Ms Roberts recommends the technology check-up quiz on the eSafety website.

Preventative things you can do include never sharing passwords and monitoring your technology.

Nicole McMahon is general manager at 1800RESPECT and says people should regularly check their phone and watch for "unexplained apps appearing, or data usage".

"We also talk about reporting inappropriate behaviour to the social platforms."

*Name changed for privacy reasons.