A San Francisco judge has ruled that Apple should be sued for negligence over the potential stalking risks created by AirTags. reports. While the bulk of the nearly three dozen claims in the class action were dismissed, US District Judge Vince Chhabria dismissed the suit based on Apple’s claim that the three plaintiffs had “problems with litigation when they were prosecuted.” The AirTag’s security features were important, and these security flaws led to their injuries.”
The lawsuit claims that Apple was warned of the potential for misuse of Bluetooth item trackers and therefore liable under California law, which Apple disagrees. Bloomberg. After releasing AirTags, Apple later introduced security features designed to prevent stalking attempts, such as updates to make AirTags emit a loud sound when within a certain distance of the wearer and receive notifications of unknown trackers. Apple and Google also announced last year they work together to develop industry standards to proactively combat the misuse of tracking devices.
Despite this, the lawsuit claims that AirTags have “become the weapon of choice for stalkers and abusers.” Bloomberg reports. The case was filed in the District Court of Northern California.
