Apple must face lawsuit claiming AirTags are stalkers’ weapons; judge does say ‘Apple may end up being right’

Apple has lost a lawsuit that accused its AirTag devices of helping stalkers track their victims. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled Friday that three plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit had sufficient claims for negligence and product liability, but he dismissed the others.

About three dozen women and men who filed lawsuits claim that Apple was warned of the risks posed by its AirTags and argue that the company could be subject to legal liability under California law when the tracking devices are used for inappropriate behavior.

Of the three surviving claims, the plaintiffs “alleged that there were serious issues with the AirTags’ security features when they were being tracked, and that these security flaws caused their injuries,” Chhabria wrote.

Apple has argued that it used “industry-first” security measures when designing AirTags and therefore should not be held liable if the product is misused.

“Apple may ultimately be right that California law does not require it to do more to impair trackers’ ability to effectively use AirTags, but that decision cannot be made at this early stage,” the judge said in allowing three plaintiffs to pursue their claims. the lawsuit reads. Claim.

A spokesman for the company did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on the ruling.

Apple has been accused of neglecting to release AirTags despite warnings from advocacy groups and others that the product would be repurposed for surveillance. “At a price of just $29, it has become the weapon of choice for stalkers and abusers,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit alleges that Apple developed a feature to alert users when AirTags might be tracking them, but that feature and other security measures were not enough.

Tile Inc. has faced similar accusations that its tracking devices connected to Amazon.com Inc.’s Bluetooth network lacked adequate protection against tracking.

The case is Hughes v. Apple, Inc., case number 3:22-cv-07668, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco).