Two Women Sue Apple, Claiming AirTags Are 'Weapons' For Stalkers
The plaintiffs said their exes used the devices to harass them and track their whereabouts.
Apple is under fire after two women sued the tech giant, claiming their AirTag is a “dangerous product” and “has become the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers.”
According to CNN, the women — one from Texas, the other from New York — filed the proposed class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, alleging that their previous romantic partners used the company’s $29 AirTags to track their whereabouts. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The AirTag is a small tracking device, slightly larger than a quarter, intended to help locate lost items through Bluetooth and the “Find My” application on Apple devices.
Lauren Hughes from Texas claims that her ex colored the device with a Sharpie marker, tied it up in a plastic bag and placed it into the wheel well of a tire on her car. The other woman, who chose to remain anonymous, says her ex-husband placed an AirTag in her child’s backpack amid their “contentious divorce.” Although she attempted to disable it, another one soon showed up in its place.
The lawsuit challenges Apple’s claim that AirTags are “Stalker-Proof,” and says the product “revolutionized the scope, breadth, and ease of location-based stalking.”
“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 reads, adding that the women wanted to file on behalf of those “who have been and who are at risk of stalking via this dangerous product.”
This isn’t the first time AirTags have allegedly been used for unwanted tracking. In June, a woman from Indiana reportedly used one to track and ultimately murder her boyfriend over an alleged affair, according to a Washington Post story.
Apple didn’t comment on Monday’s lawsuit, according to CNN. But in a February statement on “unwanted tracking” with AirTags, the company said “we condemn in the strongest possible terms.” Apple now shares information on what to do when alerted of an AirTag, including tapping the notification to listen for the device’s sound and locate it.
