Lawsuit against Apple for AirTag stalking lawsuit can continue

Apple has lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that its AirTag devices help stalkers track their victims, reports Bloomberg (a subscription is required to read the article).

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled Friday that three plaintiffs in the class-action suit had made sufficient claims for negligence and product liability, though he dismissed the others. In December 2022 two women sued Apple, saying the company’sAirTag devices make it easy for stalker to track and terrorize victims.

The lawsuit claims that the safeguards in place, which include alerting iPhone users if an unknown AirTag is found to be following them, are “woefully inadequate, and do little, if anything, to promptly warn individuals if they are being tracked.”

In February 2023, Apple posted an article about the matter.

Read the entire article for details, but here are two important paragraphs: “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. We also have seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.

Apple has been working closely with various safety groups and law enforcement agencies. Through our own evaluations and these discussions, we have identified even more ways we can update AirTag safety warnings and help guard against further unwanted tracking.”

The article further explains Apple’s goals for the AirTag and how the company is working with law enforcement.