Two women have sued Appleafter being followed by their respective ex-mates using some AirTagthe devices for finding lost objects launched by Cupertino in the spring of 2021. Women argue that the measures taken by Apple to prevent these tools from being used for stalking are insufficient. They then demanded compensation from Apple.
Two women sue Apple, exes followed them using AirTags
On Monday, two women filed a complaint with the federal court in San Francisco v. Apple. Not for something made by the Cupertino company, but for how i their respective ex-mates used a product from Apple: the AirTag.
One of the two women explained that the ex-boyfriend “hid an AirTag in the wheel well of her car and was able to find where she had moved to avoid his harassment.” The other woman, however, explained that the “expelled husband traced her movements by putting an AirTag in the son’s backpack.
Technology used to follow people instead of finding objects
Already from the presentation of these devices, Apple had specified that they were used to “help people find their personal items, do not track people or other people’s property“, specifying that Cupertino “condemns in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products”.
The words were immediately followed by the facts, with the first changes made in February and designed to communicate to the user the presence of a foreign tracker that seems to have been following the same path for too long; later it was increased the volume of the beep issued by the AirTag when it is away from its rightful owner’s iPhone.
However, the women’s lawyers who filed the complaint called these measures “incredibly inadequate“, adding that Apple appears to have “done little, if anything, to promptly notify individuals when they are being followed.” In other words, although the tools were born to find lost objects and not for stalking, according to the indictment Apple does not seem to have devised the right limitations to prevent this from happening.
Apple has not yet responded to the complaint, although it has previously stated the following: “unsolicited surveillance has long been a social problem and we take these issues seriously in AirTag design”. However, it will be up to the judges, in all likelihood, to assess whether the security measures taken by Apple for the AirTags have been sufficient or not. We will keep you updated about it.