Apple released the AirTag as a way for its customers to find their precious belongings easily. However, it may have gone too far for two women.
They claim their previous romantic partners have been using AirTags to monitor their activities, potentially placing them in danger.
The two women filed a class action lawsuit in the federal court in San Francisco on Monday. Moreover, they are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Why did two women sue Apple?
Photo Credit: www.igen.fr
One of the plaintiffs said her ex-boyfriend attached an AirTag to the wheel well of a tire in her vehicle.
The man allegedly hid the tracking device by coloring it with a Sharpie marker and tying it in a plastic bag.
On the other hand, another woman named Jane Doe in the lawsuit says her ex-husband has been using the Apple device to follow her.
He allegedly planted an AirTag in her child’s backpack to harass and stalk her. She tried disabling it, but the stalker soon replaced it.
The lawsuit states, “Ms. Doe continues to fear for her safety—at minimum, her stalker has evidenced a commitment to continuing to use AirTags to track, harass, and threaten her, and continues to use AirTags to find Plaintiff’s location.”
“[She] seeks to bring this action anonymously due to the real risk that being identified would expose her to increase risk of harassment and/or physical harm.”
Other people had been using the AirTag to harm others before the two women filed complaints.
In June 2022, an Indiana woman used the Apple tracker to find and murder her boyfriend over an alleged affair.
Also, other people have been using them to steal cars. In response, Apple said in a blog post that it worked with safety groups and law enforcement to improve AirTag security.
The company said, “We’ve become aware that individuals can receive unwanted tracking alerts for benign reasons, such as when borrowing someone’s keys with an AirTag attached or when traveling in a car with a family member’s AirPods left inside.”
“We also have seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTags for malicious or criminal purposes. We condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products.”
Conclusion
Apple promises to make AirTags safer, but the recent lawsuit from two women questions the results.
It stated, “While Apple has built safeguards into the AirTag product, they are woefully inadequate and do little, if anything, to promptly warn individuals if they are being tracked.”
The lawsuit added that the two women sued Apple on behalf of those “who have been and who are at risk of stalking via this dangerous product.”
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