A class-action lawsuit against Apple alleges the tech giant didn’t sufficiently resolve privacy issues raised by its AirTag digital tracking devices, leading to unwanted stalking and abuse.
The lawsuit, which was filed last year and given court approval to proceed earlier this month, says plaintiffs suffered “substantial” injuries from people who abused Apple’s $29 Bluetooth tracker in ways the company didn’t sufficiently work to address.
Apple has defended its work on AirTags since the outset, creating systems the company said were designed to ensure people can identify and disable any unexpected AirTags or other Find My network-equipped sensors that may be near them. When Apple first announced its AirTags at a 2021 event, executives spent extra time on stage discussing privacy-minded features designed to help track items, “not people.”Â
But some users of the digital-tracking sensors say otherwise. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit now facing Apple include a woman who found an unwanted AirTag amid a contentious divorce, and a woman who was repeatedly tracked and harassed following the breakup of a three-month relationship.
“As of April 2022, at least 150 police reports were filed describing AirTags being used to stalk victims,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in their initial filing. However, they added, this number captures only incidents that were reported to police and then recorded in a way they could be obtained through FOIA results. The number could be much higher.
A representative for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here’s everything you need to know about the AirTags lawsuit against Apple.
Apple expected security concerns
When announcing the AirTag back in 2021, Apple said the tracker had features like unwanted-tag detection and audible alerts that would alert people when an unexpected AirTag was nearby. Apple also said its encrypted Find My communications network, where Apple devices quietly alerted one another to their whereabouts,…
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