Free Classified Ads Articles Apple is sued by two women who were victims of AirTag stalkingApple is sued by two women who were victims of AirTag stalking
Apple is sued by two women who were victims of AirTag stalking
Two women are taking Apple to court, saying its AirTag devices make it too easy for stalkers to track their victims without their knowledge.
Lauren Hughes, of Texas, and a second woman, only identified as Jane Doe, have filed a class action suit against the tech giant on Monday, alleging it was negligent in its creation and marketing of the inexpensive tracking devices.
Their suit, filed in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California, details how Apple released the devices against the advice of experts who warned the company about potential security concerns — and proceeded to downplay the risks.
In the aftermath, Hughes said she found one of the devices in the wheel well of her car, allowing her ex-boyfriend to find where she moved to avoid his harassment, while the other victim said her estranged husband tracked her movements by placing an AirTag in her child's backpack.
Their stories echo a slew of other reports by women around the world who have found AirTags on their person — including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Brooks Nader, who revealed in January how she found one of the devices in her coat pocket.
Apple first introduced AirTags in April 2021 to help Apple users keep track of their personal possessions like their wallet and keys.
It uses Bluetooth connectivity to send its location to any iPhone, iPod or iPad through its 'Find My' app.
Apple executives had advertised them as being 'stalker proof' when they were first released, saying they included chime notifications to inform Apple device users whether there was an AirTag within 30 feet of them for an extended period of time.
But domestic abuse organizations have warned — even before the devices were rolled out — that they could enable abusers to more easily locate their victims.
And since the devices went to the market, an investigation by Vice found earlier this year, that 150 police reports from dozens of US police departments had involved AirTags over an eight-month period.
Of those 150 reports, a full quarter involved women who had called the police because they started getting notifications that their whereabouts were being tracked by an AirTag they didn’t own.
Lawyers representing Hughes and Jane Doe, though, say that number only captures incidents that were reported to police or obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, noting in the lawsuit: 'Upon Plaintiff's counsel's investigation, information and belief, this number is significantly higher.'
They note that Apple products are ubiquitous throughout the United States making it 'virtually impossible to hide from an AirTag in most, if not all, populated areas.'
Apple then made some upgrades to the devices earlier this year, shortening the time Apple users would get notifications and informing Apple device users when an AirTag that was not registered to them was 'Moving With You.'
It also released an App for Android users that lets them scan for AirTags around them — but Plaintiffs say these safeguards are still 'woefully inadequate, and do little, if anything, to promptly warn individuals if they are being tracked.'
WHAT ARE AIRTAGS?
The lawyers say the alerts to Apple users were not adequate because they would not be released for a full 72 hours after an AirTag was in range.
'Put another way, a victim could have been stalked for three days before Apple alerted them of the potential danger,' they write in the lawsuit, noting that the notifications would only be sent to individuals who have iPhones, iPads or iPod Touches that run iOS version 14.5 or later.
And those who use Android devices, which they say make up almost half of all Americans, would not receive any notifications.
Android users would therefore have to 'selectively and intentionally engage [the app] to conduct a scan' for any AirTags nearby — though it would not pinpoint the actual location and may detect devices on other people in populated areas.
The lawyers also say the alert the device emits is only 60 decibels 'which is approximately as loud as a normal conversation between two people or background music.
'Moreover,' the suit says, 'the sound is not particularly distinctive, meaning that it can be mistaken for other benign and ambient noises coming from other devices.
'This is particularly problematic if the victim is hearing impaired or in a loud environment where it will be muffled or out-of-range of hearing.
'Worse still,' they note, 'people have figured out how to disable the speaker on AirTags, and are selling "silent AirTags" on mainstream ecommerce sites like eBay and Etsy.'
For Hughes and the Jane Doe, these ubiquitous devices have proved to be harmful for these reasons.
Hughes reports that she had recently ended a three-month long relationship in August 2021 when her ex-boyfriend began making abusive posts on social media accounts and using fake account to try to follow her private accounts.
He soon started calling her from blocked numbers and leaving threatening voicemails, the lawsuit alleges, ultimately leaving objects at her home.
Fearing for her safety, Hughes decided to move in October 2021. But when she returned to her hotel on October 7, she said she received a notification on her iPhone that an unknown AirTag was nearby.
She 'attempted to engage the feature causing the AirTag to beep, but could only get it to work one time,' the suit says, before she ultimately found the AirTag in the wheel well of the rear passenger tire of her car.
It was colored with Sharpie marker and tied up in a plastic baggie.
Hughes decided to go to the local police shortly afterwards, but was allegedly told they could read her stalker a cease and desist 'but that's about it.'
By March 15, 2022, the suit says, her stalker had posted a picture on social media showing a taco truck in her new neighborhood with hashtags referencing her new location and including a winking emoji with the separate hashtag #airt2.0.
The Jane Doe, meanwhile, first found an AirTag in her child's backpack in the summer of 2022 following a contentious divorce in which her estranged husband harassed her and challenged her about her whereabouts.
According to the suit, she tried to 'disable or otherwise render ineffective that AirTag, but another one soon showed up in its place.'
She then allegedly got a friend to download the Android app to find the trackers, but it could not 'confirm or deny whether a specific AirTag was being placed in her child's effects by her estranged husband.'
Both women continue to fear for their safety as their stalkers have 'evidenced a commitment to continuing to use AirTags to track, harass and threaten her and continue to use AirTags to find' their locations.
They are now asking others around the country to join in on their suit seeking unspecified punitive damages, lawyers fees and an injunction restraining 'Apple from continuing to commit its illegal and unfair violations of privacy,' saying it was 'malicious, oppressive and willful' in deploying the AirTags despite security concerns.
'Apple has knowingly introduced into the stream of commerce a standalone device whose sole purpose is to locate whatever it is affixed to,' the suit states.
'Apple has done this despite being warned prior to and immediately after the release of the AirTag that the product is a dangerous tool that enables stalkers and abusers.'
