Apple Sued by Women After Exes Use AirTags to Stalk Them

[bookofxero]

I feel like you could have a viable case, only IF, you also own and use an iPhone. If your own device is used as the method, or even supplemental method, for providing the location to the tracker itself and thus forwarding those details to Apple - at which point they are provided by Apple to the tracker owner... You really start getting into direct involvement by Apple in providing very accurate and timely location details of someone who is unknowingly being tracked. Layered with the time delay in notification of the 'tracked' carrier or known carrier companion - it really feels like a compelling case. Especially if damages can be shown (physical, mental or otherwise).

#notalawyer

Clearly - and neither am I.

 

[bookofxero]

But wouldn't part of the case depend on two things: whether or not she filed any sort of court order like a restraining order or something similar basically documenting the husband and whether or not she has sole custody or whatever the legal arrangement may be? If the husband still has full parental rights then the airtag in the child's backpack wouldn't matter because legally speaking he would have every right to know where his child is.

She is taking the battle up with the wrong person/entity. She should take this airtag information and file for whatever custody and a possible restraining order and do the steps to possibly get the man in jail/prison if it comes down to it.

And either way, maybe there is something this layperson is missing, but what is Apple’s liability here if she did have a restraining order and that failed to stop him?

 

[bookofxero]

Anyone remember the case of the woman who sued McD for hot coffee that she put between her legs?

JFC, another one. Read https://www.citizen.org/article/legal-myths-the-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-case/ or any other reliable source of information before blindly parroting McDonalds’ corporate propaganda.

 

[bookofxero]

I would be interested in hearing the legal argument regarding the idea that when individuals track people without their knowledge is not acceptable but when corporations do it is totally fine.

“It was in the terms of use/user agreement.”

 

[bookofxero]

Don't start spouting that nonsense, the only reason this went to trial was McD refusing to cover the medical expenses and offering $800 for being partially disabled for years. It was reported that she never fully recovered from this accident and led her to an early grave. I am sure she did that on purpose.

‘I didn’t want it anywhere near me’: how the Apple AirTag became a gift to stalkers

A gadget the size of a 10p coin, the AirTag was intended to help people find their keys. Instead it has facilitated a boom in terrifying behaviour from abusers

www.theguardian.com

The article brings up a few good points. Such as:


Except it doesn't unless you have an iPhone. The speaker can and will be disabled by the stalker, unless you have the foresight to install the track notification app on an Android phone you'll never be able to know. Furthermore the article I linked above states:

So what do you do with people that aren't familiar with Airtags at all? For example I guarantee my mum has never heard of them and if she got such a notification I give it a 50:50 chance of whether she asks me or just dismisses it because she gets all sorts of notifications she doesn't necessarily understands or cares about.

Apple could have designed the airtags with that in mind, for example by bricking an airtag if the speaker is disabled. Apple is very skilled to mate hardware together like they do with iPhones where even an original Apple screen replacement part will trigger warnings on the iphone, unless the replacement was done by Apple. So they have the tech already to brick their devices if altered.

Apple could easily have done better with the airtags from the start but chose not to. And that's the real issue I have with this. You are all right that gps trackers exist, but surely we can agree that Apple should be held to a different standard than some random seller from aliexpress.

So your argument is that Apple is at fault for failing to think through all possible criminal uses of their product AND the ignorance of those receiving notifications from their extra diligence not displayed by competing products that have been on the market much longer? Interesting gambit…

 

[Kottu]

They are only after money.
Victim or their relatives of shootings is US should sue firearm or automat weapon manufactures. But Gunmakers are protected from being held liable for mass shootings by a federal shield law, the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

 

[Huracan]

I never used Tile, but was is so horrible that no one used them this way?

I used Tile (not in this way) to track personal items like luggage, keys, etc. It is basically the same technology as the Airtag. However, being a 3d party company they had a few shortcomings. For example, in order for the community to be able to locate a lost item they would have to have the Tile app installed in their phone (good thing is that it was Android and iPhone) and running (it used a considerable amount of battery). I once got a Tile removed from my luggage on a trip (air travel). I guess due to their lithium battery (later models had a button cell battery). For Tile to detect when an item was moving away from you (let's say being stolen) you had to pay for a subscription. All in all, between the battery drain, the relative small number (they claimed at the time to have about six or seven thousand people in my area with the app (the area has more than a million people, so not such a large number) of people with the app, the subscription model, etc. I ended up not using my Tiles at all. I still have one or two around of the kind that have replaceable batteries. However, the Airtag is superior in all aspects (even with the lack of Android support). Although to be fair I haven't checked to see whether Tile has improved their product. However, it is difficult to succeed as a 3d party company when Apple is doing a similar product themselves (Apple doesn't need to have an app running and draining battery for this to work, and literally every iPhone becomes a part of this network). I've used the Airtag in a few flights and it works great. Better than Tile used to work. My very long 2 cents.

 

[ackmondual]

Apple's response... "you're using it wrong"

 

[haplain]

I say this living in CA, but of COURSE, it had to be San Francisco/CA that was the first place to start this.

 

[Jessica Lares]

So here's the thing. There's already precedent in favor of Apple. In the 80's movie studios sued to outlaw VHS recorders in the U.S. because the "could" be used to illegally pirate and sell movies. But the intent and common use of VHS recorders was to both film and watch special events in your life and record your favorite TV show when you couldn't be home while it aired and you could then watch it later. I belive this went all the way to the Supreme Court.

At any rate, the movie studios lost. The crux of the ruling was that, just because something "could" be used for illegal or nefarious purposes, doesn't outweigh the consumer's right to the many more legal uses of such a product. The same will undoubtedly apply here.

Oh yeah, I'm not suggesting that Apple should be forced to discontinue them. It's more like it's obvious that consumers have moved on from needing to track everyday things when they're sticking them on their pets collars, inside their cars, putting them in mailed packages, using them for stalking, and going to people's houses to track stolen property.

They needed to release them 10 years ago, not now when everyone's ordering food for delivery, getting their groceries delivered, and everything else from Amazon. They are having to invest too much just to help the few people find their keys in the other room of their house or a wallet they left in a hotel room. They are mostly things you can cancel and replace anyway.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

For me looking for the case from a distance it looks like someone wants to milk Apple for money. Common sense tells me the women should sue directly their ex partners.

 

[Doctor Q]

So your argument is that Apple is at fault for failing to think through all possible criminal uses of their product AND the ignorance of those receiving notifications from their extra diligence not displayed by competing products that have been on the market much longer? Interesting gambit…

Anybody else want to try this lawsuit tactic? I'll agree to bop you over the head with my iPad so you can sue Apple for making a dangerous product. After all, the iPad and its many sensors should be able to detect when somebody is about to be bopped on the head and display a "Stop! Don't bop!" message, to prevent misuse of the device. Since Apple didn't do this, they must be liable.

 

[SnappleRumors]

JFC …

I’m an atheist but never cared for that expression. I know, TMI. Not intended to be personal at all. Just a post cocktail hour(s) comment.

 

[1applerules1]

I don’t appreciate Macrumors reporting on me stalking my wife.

 

[svish]

So many AirTag equivalents are available in the market. Wonder what will happen to this lawsuit.

 

[I7guy]

Domestic violence is neither funny or trivial, let's not lose sight of that.

Meanwhile, I do not think this lawsuit will be successful but that's what  pays big $$$ to attorneys to figure out.

I do believe that apple attorneys have envisioned this possibility. It’s an interesting case that could possibly takes years to resolve.

 

[MacProFCP]

This morning, my Sig Sauer got up and logged into my iPhone. Then him, and his buddy the Knife, along with their partner the Air Tag left the house in my car destined for mayhem. All of them stopped at an early morning bar (some of the bars here open at 7 AM. Hey different strokes, but not my jawn). The Sig got totally loaded before 8 AM and decided to go find his Ex. The iPhone agreed and let Sig use him to access Air Tag and go after the ex.

Fortunately, none of this happened. Sig is a crappy driver. Especially when drunk. He got into a rush hour wreck and that put an end to all of it.

Since Phone is a 14 PM with crash detection it called first responders on them after the crash. Sig made bail because hey, it's a one car crash and no one was hurt. Knife is keeping his mouth shut, and Air Tag is pisssssed that iPhone ratted them all out.


Cars don't drive themselves drunk.

Knives don't stab people by themselves.

Guns don't shoot people.

Air Tags don't do evil things, unless people do evil things. I have an Air Tag in my work bag, and most of the time I forget it's there but most of my important stuff is in that bag (wallet, keys, stuff like that). This lawsuit is frivolous and should be tossed.

But the moral of the story? The Sig needs rehab, and there's no doubt that iPhone is a DAMN SNITCH! 😁

PS. I noticed I forgot to work the car in as a character. I guess it lacks personality.

Seems like your car just went along for the ride.

 

[SnappleRumors]

Guns don't shoot people.

Oh really? I once spotted a flock of Glocks flying south over a lake away from the scene of a reported shooting.

 

[bookofxero]

I’m an atheist but never cared for that expression. I know, TMI. Not intended to be personal at all. Just a post cocktail hour(s) comment.

Do not like Jamaican Fried Chicken?

 

[_Spinn_]

Suing Apple seems misplaced in this case. There are other trackers on the market. Does Tile even have anti-stalking safeguards?

 

[Jonr515]

Apple is facing a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco by two women, one of which claims her ex-boyfriend used an AirTag to track her without her consent, reports Bloomberg.

Since their release in April 2021, the use of Apple's AirTags has raised concerns among privacy groups and law enforcement that the trackers could be used for illegal tracking. Apple has built several safeguards to protect against unwanted tracking, but according to the new lawsuit, those safeguards are "inadequate."

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, 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." The other woman in the lawsuit says her husband placed an AirTag in her child's backpack in order to track her. The two women are requesting an unspecified amount of damages and accusing Apple of releasing an unsafe product.
Apple has addressed concerns that AirTags could be used for unwanted tracking, including updates announced in February 2021, which included improved detection for unknown AirTags, louder AirTags alerts, and more. "AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," Apple said in a February 2021 press release. "Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag," it continued.

Article Link: Apple Sued by Women After Exes Use AirTags to Stalk Them

Talk about a classic example of needing changes to the legal system... Maybe if there was something on the line for the people filing these cases they wouldn't. I think if the person or company who is sued can show a lack of legal logic the folks who file the suit would have to pay....

 

[tridley68]

This is truly a case of this woman trying to get a quick payout Apple has no control over how someone uses their product and the lawyers that try these rediculous suits should be punished as well .

 

[Vref]

Woman sounds annoying and stupid, why would anyone want to stalk her?

“Durp, it’s the air tags fault”

She’s just looking for a payday, hope she loses and apple counter sues her into oblivion

But being it’s a San Fran court, sadly who knows how they’ll rule