Current:Home > FinanceTrendPulse|Two women who allege they were stalked and harassed using AirTags are suing Apple -FutureWise Finance
TrendPulse|Two women who allege they were stalked and harassed using AirTags are suing Apple
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-08 15:36:25
Two women are TrendPulsesuing Apple over its AirTags, claiming the trackers made it easier for them to be stalked and harassed.
The women filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in the U.S. Northern District Court of California and said Apple has not done enough to protect the product from being used illicitly.
Apple introduced AirTags in 2021. They retail for $29 and work by connecting to iPhones and iPads via Bluetooth. They have been billed as a close-range alternative to the company's built-in Find My technology, which provides an approximate location.
"What separates the AirTag from any competitor product is its unparalleled accuracy, ease of use (it fits seamlessly into Apple's existing suite of products), and affordability," the lawsuit says. "With a price point of just $29, it has become the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers."
One plaintiff alleges after divorcing her ex-husband, he left an AirTag in her child's backpack. She attempted to disable it, but found another one soon after, she said in the lawsuit.
The other plaintiff, identified as Lauren Hughes, said after ending a three-month relationship with a man, he began calling her from blocked numbers, created fake profiles to follow her social media accounts and left threatening voicemails.
Hughes says she was living in a hotel while planning to move from her apartment for her safety. When she arrived at her hotel, she received an alert that an AirTag was near her. She later located it in the wheel well of one of her back tires. Once Hughes moved to her new neighborhood, the man posted a picture of a taco truck in her vicinity with "#airt2.0," the complaint says.
Apple does send users an alert if an unfamiliar AirTag is located near them. But the notification is not immediate and is only available on devices with iOS software version 14.5 or later, which excludes some older Apple devices. The consequences could be fatal, the complaint alleges.
Soon after the AirTag launched, domestic abuse advocates and technology specialists warned Apple the product could easily be compromised, according to the complaint.
"AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," Apple said in February.
The women are seeking a trial with a jury and no monetary damages.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- White House state dinner for Australia strikes measured tone in nod to Israel-Hamas war
- Indianapolis police say 1 dead, 9 others injured in overnight shooting at Halloween party
- North Macedonia police intercept a group of 77 migrants and arrest 7 suspected traffickers
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- Oprah chooses Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward as new book club pick
- San Diego ranks as most expensive US city with LA and Santa Barbara in the top five
- Fed up with mass shootings, mayors across nation call for gun reform after 18 killed in Maine
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Unlikely hero Merrill Kelly has coming out party in Diamondbacks' World Series win
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Boys graduate high school at lower rates than girls, with lifelong consequences
- Keep trick-or-treating accessible for all: a few simple tips for an inclusive Halloween
- It's been one year since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Now called X, the service has lost advertisers and users.
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Magnitude 3.7 earthquake shakes San Francisco region, causes no damage
- Mission impossible? Biden says Mideast leaders must consider a two-state solution after the war ends
- New Mexico Better Newspaper Contest Winners
Recommendation
Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
It's been one year since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Now called X, the service has lost advertisers and users.
Sephora drops four Advent calendars with beauty must-haves ahead of the holiday season
Adolis Garcia's walk-off homer in 11th inning wins World Series Game 1 for Rangers
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Israeli settler shoots and kills Palestinian harvester as violence surges in the West Bank
Severe drought in the Amazon reveals millennia-old carvings
In Mississippi, most voters will have no choice about who represents them in the Legislature