Embodiments include systems and methods for controlling radiation of radio frequency (RF) energy by a wireless communication device that includes a transmitter, an antenna, a vector field sensor, and a processing system. The transmitter produces an analog RF signal, and the antenna radiates the analog RF signal into an environment. The vector field sensor senses an intensity of a vector field resulting from the analog RF signal radiated by at least the antenna (and possibly other portions of the device). The processing system determines whether a value representing the intensity is greater than a first threshold, and when the value is greater than the first threshold, the processing system causes the radiated RF energy produced by the wireless communication device to be decreased.