Two women whose movements were tracked and monitored by their ex-spouse using the AirTag device filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple on Monday.
One of the women says her ex-boyfriend put an AirTag in his car wheel, while the other claims her ex-husband put it in her boy’s backpack.
According to her, the AirTag allows people with bad intentions to follow their victim without them knowing.
The product, which retails for about $39 in Canada, was originally designed to help locate lost items, keys, a purse, or other valuable items. It was released in April 2021.
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The size of a quarter, its small size makes it easy to hide.
However, Apple claims on its website that the product is designed in such a way that it cannot be localized without your knowledge.
“If someone else’s AirTag lands in your belongings, your iPhone will detect it and send you an alert. If you still haven’t found it after a while, the AirTag will ring to signal its presence.
However, the two women behind the lawsuit, Texas-based Lauren Hughes and an unidentified woman, believe Apple has been lax in developing and promoting these low-cost tracking devices.
Their lawsuit, filed in a Northern California court, details how Apple marketed AirTags against expert advice. These alerted the company to potential security issues and downplayed the risks.
Their stories echo a range of other testimonies from women around the world who have found an AirTag in their belongings that did not belong to them.
Model Brooks Nader notably revealed on her Instagram account that she was being followed and after spotting an “AirTag” in her coat pocket.
According to a Vice News investigation, approximately 150 police reports were made over a period of eight months regarding these devices discovered by victims.
According to plaintiffs’ attorneys, the number of espionage cases is much higher because these Apple products are ubiquitous in the United States, making it “virtually impossible to hide from an AirTag in most, if not all, populated areas.”
Additionally, it can take up to three days for an AirTag to send an alert to an Apple phone, a particularly long delay.
People who own an Android phone just wouldn’t get one.
Worse, lawyers are arguing that people with bad intentions have figured out how to disable speakerphones on AirTags.
Some Silent AirTags are sold on sites like Ebay and Etsy.
Other women have also testified on social networks that they were not being followed thanks to an AirTag, but thanks to Air Pods.