A San Francisco judge has decided that Apple has to respond to a case alleging carelessness over the possible stalking hazards that its AirTags may pose, according to Bloomberg. Apple tried to have the class-action lawsuit dismissed, but US District Judge Vince Chhabria rejected the company on the basis of three plaintiffs’ claims that “when they were stalked, the problems with the AirTag’s safety features were substantial, and those safety defects caused their injuries.” The majority of the roughly thirty-odd claims in the lawsuit were dismissed.
While the suit argues that Apple was warned of the potential for its Bluetooth item trackers to be misused and thus should be held liable under California law, Apple disagrees, according to Bloomberg. After it released AirTags, Apple later rolled out safety features designed to thwart stalking attempts, like an update that made it so AirTags would emit a loud sound when they get a certain distance from their owner and notifications about unknown trackers. Apple and Google also last year announced that they’re working together on developing industry standards to proactively fight the misuse of tracking devices.
Nevertheless, the lawsuit argues that AirTags have “become the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers,” Bloomberg reports. The case was filed in the Northern California district court.
