Two Women Sue Apple Over AirTag Stalking

Two girls sued Apple on Monday over the risks of its AirTag monitoring gadgets within the fingers of stalkers, saying the corporate had didn’t heed warnings from advocacy teams and information studies.

The proposed class motion lawsuit was filed on Monday in the US District Courtroom for the Northern District of California and accuses Apple of failing to introduce efficient safeguards that will stop stalkers from utilizing AirTags to trace individuals. The ladies mentioned the gadgets had been utilized by their former companions to trace them.

Apple launched AirTags, which price $29 and are concerning the dimension of 1 / 4, final 12 months as a tool that could possibly be used to trace private objects like keys and wallets. Different gadgets decide up their Bluetooth alerts; some iPhone customers get alerts if a close-by AirTag is shifting alongside them. Advocates for survivors of home violence warned early on that stalkers may benefit from the trackers.

“With a value level of simply $29, it has develop into the weapon of selection of stalkers and abusers,” the lawsuit mentioned.

Apple didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The corporate made modifications to the merchandise early this 12 months after complaints, saying, “We condemn within the strongest attainable phrases any malicious use of our merchandise.”

Each plaintiffs within the lawsuit mentioned that their former companions had used AirTags to stalk them and that they continued to concern for his or her security.

The court docket papers mentioned that Lauren Hughes, who lives in Travis County, Texas, realized that an AirTag was getting used to trace her in August 2021 after the breakup of a three-month relationship. Ms. Hughes’s stalker left her threatening voice mail messages and made abusive posts on her social media accounts.

Ms. Hughes determined to maneuver after the stalker left objects outdoors her condo. Whereas she was staying at a lodge through the transfer, she obtained a notification on her telephone that an unknown AirTag was touring together with her. She discovered it within the wheel nicely of her automobile. After she moved, her stalker posted a photograph on-line of a taco truck in her new neighborhood and included “#airt2.0” subsequent to a winking face emoji within the caption, the swimsuit mentioned.

The second plaintiff, who lives in Brooklyn, selected to not present her title and is known as Jane Doe within the court docket papers. She discovered an AirTag in her baby’s backpack this summer time after a “contentious divorce,” and the lawsuit mentioned that her stalker had “a dedication to persevering with to make use of AirTags to trace, harass, and threaten her.”

The lawsuit paperwork issues raised by home violence teams, digital privateness specialists and in information articles simply after Apple introduced the AirTag in April 2021, together with a December 2021 article in The New York Occasions that featured interviews with seven girls who believed that they had been tracked with AirTags.

In February, Apple mentioned that it could replace the AirTag to make it tougher for individuals to make use of them to trace others with out their information. The modifications included enhancing the alert system that lets individuals with iPhones know that an unknown AirTag is close by.

The lawsuit mentioned that the corporate’s safeguards have been “woefully insufficient,” partially as a result of they don’t supply computerized protections for Android customers, who should obtain an app to get a warning that an unknown AirTag is close by.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for house owners of iOS or Android gadgets who’ve been tracked with an AirTag or are at-risk of being stalked.