The proposed class motion lawsuit was filed in federal court docket in San Francisco on Monday on behalf of 1 lady from Texas and one other in New York. They are searching for unspecified financial damages.
One of the ladies mentioned her ex-boyfriend allegedly positioned an AirTag – a small monitoring system, barely bigger than 1 / 4 and supposed to assist find misplaced objects – into the wheel effectively of a tire on her automotive. The system was allegedly coloured with a sharpie marker and tied up in a plastic baggie to disguise it.
The different lady, named within the lawsuit as Jane Doe, mentioned her ex-husband, who had been harassing her and difficult her about her whereabouts, positioned an AirTag in her kid’s backpack, the lawsuit mentioned. Though she tried to disable it, one other one quickly confirmed up as a replacement, in line with the grievance.
“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,” the lawsuit mentioned.
“[She] seeks to bring this action anonymously due to the real risk that being identified would expose her to increased risk of harassment and/or physical harm.”
Apple didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the lawsuit.
In 2021, Apple launched the AirTag, a $US29 ($43) tile-like Bluetooth locator that attaches to and helps customers discover objects reminiscent of keys, wallets, laptops or perhaps a automotive by giving almost something a digital footprint, enabling it to be discovered on a map. But quickly after its launch, some consultants warned that the units could possibly be used to trace people with out their consent.
Earlier this yr, Apple added extra safeguards to the AirTag to chop down on undesirable monitoring.
“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,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement on the time.
“We also have seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.”
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products,” the corporate mentioned.
But the brand new lawsuit alleges these safeguards have carried out little to guard victims. “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,” it mentioned.
It added that the ladies needed to file the lawsuit on behalf of these “who have been and who are at risk of stalking via this dangerous product.”
