Disclosed herein are techniques for reducing power consumption of an electronic tracking device. The electronic tracking device includes a wireless communication subsystem and an always-on low-power sensor for sensing the motions of the electronic tracking device. A controller of the electronic tracking device controls the operations of the wireless communication subsystem based on the detection signals from the always-on low-power sensor such that the wireless communication subsystem is only activated when motions of the electronic tracking device have stopped for a threshold period of time, or when a query from a server is received when the wireless communication subsystem is in a standby mode.