Two women sue Apple saying AirTag product gives stalkers access to their whereabouts
Two women are reportedly suing Apple, claiming its AirTag product gives potential stalkers access to one’s whereabouts. One of those women says she found an AirTag tracking device in the wheel well of her car, while the second woman says she found one in her child’s backpack. The lawsuit alleges that the company had failed to heed warnings from advocacy groups and news reports over its product’s potential to give unwanted locations to stalkers.
According to The New York Times, the class action lawsuit was filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit accuses Apple of failing to introduce effective safeguards that would prevent stalkers from using the product to stalk people. The women also alleged that the devices were used by their former partners to stalk them.
Apple introduced AirTags last year as a device that could track personal items like keys and wallets. The quarter-sized product allows other devices to pick up its Bluetooth signals, while some iPhone users can choose to get alerts if a nearby AirTag is moving near them. But, advocates for domestic violence survivors warned that stalkers could use the devices to track their victims. The lawsuit’s writing noted that the product’s cheap price was attractive to those who may want to commit stalking.
“With a price point of just US$29, it has become the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers.”
Further court papers reveal that one of the women learned that an AirTag was being used to track her after a breakup of a three-month relationship. The woman, Lauren Hughes, says that her stalker left her threatening voicemail messages and made abusive posts on her social media accounts. She decided to move after more incidents occurred with her stalker, only to receive a notification on her phone that an unknown AirTag was travelling with her.
The second woman says she found the AirTag in her child’s backpack after a “contentious divorce,” with the lawsuit alleging that her stalker had “a commitment to continuing to use AirTags to track, harass, and threaten her. ”
In February, Apple responded to warnings by saying that it would update the AirTag to make it harder for people to use them to track others without their knowledge. But the lawsuit says that the safeguards were “woefully inadequate.”
