2 women sue Apple in California over AirTag tracking

UPI ^ | 12/7/22 | Clive Hughes

[DallasBiff]

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Two women sued Apple in California federal court on Monday charging that the tech company did not do enough to prevent them from being stalked with the use of its AirTags.

In the class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. Northern District Court of California on Monday, one alleged victim said she found her ex-husband left an AirTag in her child's backpack and once she disabled it she located a second one.

In the second incident, Lauren Hughes claimed after ending a three-month relationship, her former companion harassed her with blocked numbers, fake social media profiles to follow her social media accounts and left threatening voicemails.

Hughes said after receiving an alert, she discovered a tracking AirTag inside the wheel well of one of her back tires.

AirTags, which Apple rolled out in 2021, were designed to help Apple users find their misplaced tech devices. They can be purchased for as little as $29, connect to iPhones and iPads via Bluetooth technology, which can provide an approximate location if those devices are lost.

[NorthWoody]

Technology will be the downfall of modern society.

We should have stopped at the telegraph. That was enough technology. Mankind can’t handle what we have now, and it will only get worse.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

...she discovered a tracking AirTag inside the wheel well of one of her back tires.

When did they start installing wheel wells on tires?

---

What is she suing for? It is a TRACKING tag. It was bought to TRACK things. Why not sue Google for providing maps to her house?

[DallasBiff]

Please elucidate how the millions of Apple AirPods have put even a minority of their buyers or users lives in danger, and how they are not useful for the purpose for which they are sold or intended for use, DallasBiff. I suspect that you cannot. The percentage of such cases as these women are filing suit over is so small as to be microscopic, and your argument you’ve just claimed that “Apple created a product put other lives in jeopardy” that somehow differs from a similar argument that could be applied in a similar vein toward Ford or Smith & Wesson when their products are misused by end users just as Apple’s AirPods were misused by their end users??? Could not a Ford Car or a Smith & Wesson handgun be said to have been created to put other lives in jeopardy???

I put it to you that people LIKE YOU have said exactly that stupid thing you’ve just said about those companies for the exact same reason!

What does that say about YOU, DallasBiff?

Well ok counsel, in the case of cars, there are laws against drunk or reckless driving in motor cars. In the case of firearms, there are laws against using a weapon to kill a life, be it a firearm, knife, or a screw driver.

Apple did not care that their tracker(airtag) could be used for hurtful things.

I can see you are a business purist, it's a whole new world out there, and go ahead make your money defending Apple and all the woke corporations. All you care about is "your" almighty $.

[Nifster]

Exactly

[Swordmaker]

I fail to see how apple is liable ANY for how someone chooses to use these!

Apple is not. Nor is Apple the only supplier of such devices nor is it the only solution to tracking the location of someone. Here’s a GPS tracker one can buy from Amazon.

There are literally 20 pages of these and this is not the least expensive of these and there are some double GPS units for people with needs for more than one device for tracking more family members/vehicles… some are designed to be built in.

This is not a viable case for a lawsuit. They need to be suing their ex-spouses/boyfriend/stalkers for their acts. It’s like suing Bausch & Lomb for making binoculars because your neighbor down the block has been peeping at you skinny dipping in your backyard pool because their binoculars enabled the neighbor to see you naked. Or better yet, suing the maker of your un-secured WIFI router because the neighbor used your WIFI to connect to your security cameras in your back yard to watch you skinny dipping and you’re offended that he saw you and it’s somehow the WIFI router maker’s fault you never locked it down and did not put in a password.

[Scrambler Bob]

You mean everybody doesn’t tag their wives and girlfriends? I find that the ear lobe is a good location to place them
= = =

In HS Ag class, we learned how to notch the ears of cattle, for ID.

[Paladin2]

I’m deeply in favor of microprocessor controlled ICE engine fuel systems and even ABS and stability control.

The latter help to protect me from the uneducated and unskilled.

[Texan5]

LMAO! Scrolling down the article list while proofreading a bid, my multi-tasking brain related “ear tag” for a second, which made me think of livestock...

[Saintgermain]

Let’s hope such an EMP solar blast will not happen again as it could very well destroy a good portion of the population. You may find a good description of just such an event many millennia’s ago at a web site by the name of Viewzone Magazin amongst many other interesting articles.

[EEGator]

Not even a drunk booty call?

[roadcat]

Apple did not care that their tracker(airtag) could be used for hurtful things.

Apple does care. Apple enabled the airtags to notify others that an airtag is tracking them, if it does not belong to them. And the airtag can emit a musical tweet to locate the location.

However, stalkers are disabling the tweeting by removing the internal speaker.

[Seruzawa]

Apple has deeper pockets than some loser ex-boyfriend.

[piytar]

This is ridiculous. Anyone who has any mobile device turned on (not just an Air Tagged) is always tracked. How do people think the network knows what tower to use to connect them for calls, texts, and other data? Also, how is it Apple’s fault someone misused their tech? Again, ridiculous.

[monkeyshine]

LOL.
Maybe he as a fetish for schizos.

[KC Burke]

I finally got one of these air tags for my wife so she could put it on her house keys. She lost them twice in two days and the second time I found them in the OUTSIDE of the front door dead bolt.

[Deaf Smith]

>>and stability control

That was the Soccer Mom Law that took effect in 2009.

[cableguymn]

Now say the same thing about firearms...

yup. that’s the world we live in today.

[Swordmaker]

From Mac Daily News:

Apple sued by two women alleging AirTag facilitates stalking
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 1:06 pm

Apple has been sued by two women who allege that the company’s AirTag devices have made it easier for stalkers to track victims.

In a proposed class action filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court, the women said Apple has been unable to protect people from unwanted trafficking through AirTag since launching what it called the “stalker proof” device in April 2021.

Monday’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for U.S. owners of iOS or Android-based devices who were tracked by AirTag or are “at risk” of being stalked because of Apple’s alleged negligence.

One plaintiff in Monday’s lawsuit, Lauren Hughes, said her former boyfriend learned where she had moved to avoid him after placing an AirTag in her car’s wheel well.

MacDailyNews Take: Baseless.

Apple AirTags / FindMy system work very well, as people with whom unknown AirTags are traveling are notified.

AirTag and the Find My network are designed with privacy at their core. AirTag and Find My network accessories have unique Bluetooth identifiers that change frequently. This helps prevent you from being tracked from place to place. When the Find My network is used to locate an offline device, AirTag, or other Find My network accessory, everyone’s information is protected with end-to-end encryption. No one, including Apple, knows the location or identity of any of the participating users or devices who help locate a missing Find My network accessory.

AirTag and the Find My network have also been designed to discourage unwanted tracking. To discourage tracking without your knowledge, Find My will notify you if an unknown AirTag or other Find My network accessory is seen moving with you over time. An AirTag that isn’t with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will also play a sound when moved so you can find it, even if you don’t use an iOS device. If you detect an unknown AirTag or Find My network accessory, use the steps below to learn about it and how to disable it.

If you find an AirTag or a lost item with an AirTag attached:

• Hold the top of your iPhone or NFC-capable pretend iPhone near the white side of the AirTag until a notification appears.
• Tap the notification. This opens a website that provides information about the AirTag, including its serial number.
• If the owner marked it as lost, you might see a message with information about how to contact the owner. You can view a Lost Mode message on an iPhone or NFC-capable pretend iPhone. You can then contact the owner to let them know that you found their AirTag.

If you see an “Item Detected Near You” message:

If you see this message on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS or iPadOS 14.5 or later, an AirTag or Find My network accessory that has been separated from the person who registered it is traveling with you, and the owner might be able to see its location. It’s possible that the AirTag or Find My network accessory might be attached to an item you’re borrowing. Follow these steps to turn off these notifications or disable the AirTag or Find My network accessory:

• Tap the message.
• Tap Continue. If you need help finding the AirTag or Find My network accessory, tap Play Sound.
• If the AirTag or Find My network accessory is attached to an item you’re borrowing, you can tap Pause Safety Alerts to turn off “Items Detected” notifications for one day.
• If you’re borrowing an AirTag from a member of your Family Sharing group, you can turn off Safety Alerts for one day or indefinitely.

• You can tap “Learn About This AirTag” to see its serial number if the owner marked it as lost.

  To disable the AirTag or Find My network accessory and stop sharing your location, tap Instructions to Disable and follow the onscreen steps. If you feel your safety is at risk, contact your local law enforcement who can work with Apple. You might need to provide the AirTag, Find My network accessory, or the device’s serial number.

  If you can’t play a sound, the AirTag might not be with you anymore. If it was with you overnight, its identifier might have changed. Find My uses the identifier to determine that it’s the same AirTag moving with you. If you believe the AirTag is still with you, look through your belongings to try to find it, or wait to see if another alert appears as you move from location to location during the day. If the AirTag is within range of the person who registered it, you also won’t be able to play a sound.

[Swordmaker]

Apple did not care that their tracker(airtag) could be used for hurtful things.

I can see you are a business purist, it's a whole new world out there, and go ahead make your money defending Apple and all the woke corporations. All you care about is "your" almighty $.

You do not have a clue what you are blithering about. Apple is the ONLY company that put anti-tracking ability into the device. Look at what I posted right above this. The device will NOTIFY someone if it is following them as they move, they can disable it, have the true owner identified and return it to them.

AND, sorry to burst your delusional bubble, but there ARE LAWS AGAINST STALKING in every state and legal locality in this country, and I’m pretty sure in the world. Your anti-Apple stance is overwhelming, because you cannot see all the other companies who are doing the same thing, but less mindful of what they are doing!

I see the overwhelming FLAWS in Apple’s political stance, but I also see their benefits in their products. YOU cannot see the flaws in the PRODUCTS of the others who also have those FLAWS in their political stances which in many cases eclipse those of Apple’s idiotic and in my opinion suicidal stances.

[Swordmaker]

Apple does care. Apple enabled the airtags to notify others that an airtag is tracking them, if it does not belong to them. And the airtag can emit a musical tweet to locate the location.

However, stalkers are disabling the tweeting by removing the internal speaker.

All of those GPS trackers found on Amazon, many less expensive that Apple AirPods DO NOT have any means for notifying someone they are being tracked. Only Apple AirPods make an audible sound if they are no longer within a specific range of their proper owner. Those are undetectable, DallasBiff. These women would have NEVER FOUND ANY OF THEM! Apple AirPods gave them selves away to these women by making a sound so they COULD BE FOUND… a deliberate feature for that very purpose, so they would NOT BE STALKED!

I ran across a YouTube the other day showing HOW to remove the internal speaker from Apple AirTags as soon as you get them so people would not find them and “steal” them for themselves. It was badly couched as the reason this low life was showing how to do it. I thought at the time it disables an important feature for finding the item they are tagging… but really was being disabled for nefarious reasons. This is the REAL reason that scum bag was showing why he was removing the speaker. He even hinted about it with “wink wink” looks.

Yet Google, Android’s parent, allowed this on their YouTube platform enabling stalkers.