Apple Inc. AAPL has been denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that claims stalkers are using its AirTag devices to track their victims.
What Happened: A U.S. District Judge, Vince Chhabria, in San Francisco, ruled on Friday that Apple must face the lawsuit, which alleges that the AirTag devices are being used by stalkers to track their victims, reported Bloomberg.
The lawsuit, a class-action suit, was filed by around three dozen women and men who claimed that Apple was aware of the risks associated with its AirTags. They argued that under California law, the company could be held legally responsible for the misuse of the tracking devices.
Judge Chhabria dismissed some of the claims but allowed three to proceed. These claims allege that the AirTag’s safety features were significantly flawed and led to the plaintiffs’ injuries.
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In these three claims, the plaintiffs “allege that, when they were stalked, the problems with the AirTag's safety features were substantial, and that those safety defects caused their injuries,” Chhabria wrote.
Apple had argued that it had implemented “industry-first” safety measures and should not be held accountable for the misuse of the product. However, the judge ruled that it was too early to determine if California law required Apple to do more to prevent stalkers from using AirTags effectively.
“Apple may ultimately be right that California law did not require it to do more to diminish the ability of stalkers to use AirTags effectively, but that determination cannot be made at this early stage,” the judge stated.
Why It Matters: In May last year, Apple and Google had previously submitted a proposal to combat unwanted tracking via Bluetooth location-tracking devices like AirTag. The proposal was aimed at preventing unsolicited tracking via devices such as AirTags.
The initial purpose of this smart device was to assist travelers in finding their luggage or misplaced belongings such as wallets. Nonetheless, there have been cases where individuals have used AirTags for purposes other than their intended function.
For instance, once an army spouse used an AirTag to monitor a wayward mover. In another scenario, a vehicle owner successfully tracked their stolen car using the same device.
Meanwhile, earlier in January, it was reported that the launch of the next-generation AirTag was delayed due to an overstock of the first-generation product. Although, Apple’s existing AirTags were still performing effectively and the company faced minimal competition in the “Find My” network.
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