The device is used to locate bags or personal items, but it can also be used to spy.
Two women took legal action in the United States against Apple after their ex-partners have used the AirTags to have them secretly controlled and know where they were.
Apple AirTags are tiny locators designed to keep valuables from being lost, from a set of keys to a selector on a trip. These devices were designed to be attached to a purse, for example, or a bag. But like all technology, It can be used with bad intentions.
That is what two women argue who ask Apple for compensation for damages (although the amount they demand did not transcend).
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and accuses Apple of failing to introduce effective measures to prevent harassers from using AirTags to track people.
Both plaintiffs in the lawsuit said their former associates had used AirTags to harass them and that they continued to fear for their safety.
those affected
Court documents said Lauren Hughes, who lives in Travis County, Texas, learned that he was being using an AirTag to track her down in August 2021 after she cut off a three-month relationship. Hughes’ stalker left her threatening voicemail messages and made abusive posts on her social media accounts.
Hughes decided to move out after the stalker left items outside his apartment. While staying at a hotel during her move, he received a notification on her phone that an unknown AirTag was traveling with her: he found it in a hole in the wheel of his car. After she moved out, her stalker posted a photo online of a taco truck in her new neighborhood and included “#art2.0along with a winking face emoji in the caption, the lawsuit says.
The second plaintiff, who lives in Brooklyn, chose not to provide her name and is listed in court documents as Jane Doe. She found an AirTag in her son’s backpack this summer after a “contentious divorce“, and the lawsuit said that her stalker was “committed to continue using AirTags to track, harass and threaten her.”
The lawsuit documents concerns raised by domestic violence groups, digital privacy experts, and in news articles just after Apple announced AirTag in April 2021.
Or AirTags
Apple first introduced AirTags in 2021. It’s a small, coin-sized device that costs $29. The way it works is connecting to Bluetooth from nearby Apple to be able to reveal the position (for this reason they do not depend on internet connectivity).
However, since they were introduced, domestic violence survivors and individual rights advocates warned early on that stalkers could take advantage of trackers.
“With a price of only 29 dollarshas become the weapon of choice for harassers and abusers,” the lawsuit says.
In February, Apple said it would update AirTag to make it harder for people to use them to track others without their consent. Changes included improving the alert system that lets people with iPhones know that an unknown AirTag is nearby.
The lawsuit said the company’s security measures were “wretchedly inadequate,” in part because they don’t offer automatic protections for Android users, who need to download an app to be warned that an unknown AirTag is nearby.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company made product changes earlier this year after complaints, saying: “we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products”.