Manzana is facing a lawsuit from two women who claim they were harassed by their ex-partners who used the devices AirTag to track their locations, something that breached their security.
The class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco, California. According to a report from CNNthe alleged victims request compensation for damages.
Apple’s devices are about the size of a 5 Mexican peso coin and work to find lost personal items. The user can ‘stick’ to them and track them in case they are not found. Usually it is added to keys, wallet, among other small objects.
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Although this product was designed to locate inanimate things, unfortunately, the AirTag can also be used to track people without their consentas the women have denounced on this occasion.
AirTag: Complicit in murders, according to lawsuits
According to the statements of one of the victims, her ex-boyfriend placed the device between the tire of her car, with which she was able to find out where she had moved to, the places she went to and the exact times.
The other young woman reported that her ex-husband had followed her by placing an AirTag in her son’s backpack. Although on this occasion two collective cases have been filed, the lawsuit refers to the fact that this device has even led to the murder.
Among the events described, there is one that points to the moment when a man in Ohio used the device to find his ex-partner and shoot him. Another case, in Indiana, tells how a subject hid the AirTag in his ex-boyfriend’s car, followed him to a bar and ran him over.
Security measures implemented by Apple, insufficient
In 2021, Apple announced the launch of the device, claiming that it was “stalker-proof.” It included sound notifications to alert users if an unknown AirTag was near them for an unusual period of time.
In contrast, since its release on the market, this product has generated continuous complaints, which is why the company reinforced security measures at the beginning of 2022, which included:
- Shorten notification time
- Notify Apple device users when an unrecognized AirTag ‘moves’ with them.
- Release an app for Android users that would allow them to search for AirTags around them.
The recent lawsuit, while acknowledging the company’s efforts, said they were not enough: “While Apple has built security measures into the AirTag product, They are woefully inadequate and do little, if anything, to quickly warn people if they are being tracked.”
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