December 7, 2022
Two women have sued Apple, alleging that their previous romantic partners used the company’s AirTag devices to track their whereabouts, potentially endangering their safety, and that the company ignored warnings from advocacy groups and news reports.
The two women are suing on their own behalf as well as on behalf of others who claim to have been stalked as a result of AirTags. Lauren Hughes and Jane Doe filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, alleging that Apple has failed to protect people from unwanted trafficking through AirTag since launching what it called the stalker proof device in April 2021.
One of the women said her ex-boyfriend allegedly placed an AirTag — a small tracking device, slightly larger than a quarter and intended to help locate lost items — into the wheel well of a tire on her car. The device was allegedly colored with a sharpie marker and tied up in a plastic baggie to disguise it.
They have described AirTags as “the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers” – and claim it has been linked to murders this year of women from Ohio and Indiana.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for U.S. owners of iOS or Android-based devices who were tracked by AirTag or are at risk of being stalked because of Apple’s alleged negligence.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
