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Apple AirTags stalking led to ruin and murders, lawsuit says
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Why blame Apple for this?
Would you sue Ford for making a windowless van that makes it so easy to transport kidnapped children?
When you configure the AirTag, there is an alert which explicitly states that using these to stalk people is illegal. If someone does try to smuggle one into you and you have any smartphone, it will let you know you’re being stalked.
I know how much this community looooves to shit on Apple, but this case is completely asinine.
I think it's a standard case of people suing the one who has money. Stalkers don't have much (if any) money. Apple has much money. It's a dumb lawsuit IMO, but there's generally no penalty for frivolous or misplaced lawsuits (and this is probably on the border where it's dumb but not frivolous).
Are you serious? My ex brought in a grand on a short week.
I wonder if Apple could give an option for the anti stalking to android. If they could but they aren't, that could be an argument that they are making stalking easier to promote their ecosystem.
Android can show you alerts even without the Apple app https://support.google.com/android/answer/13658562?hl=en
You can get this same functionality with airguard
They already did, except you need to be willing to install a proprietary Apple application. Still a de facto data ransom.
That used to be the case, but Apple and Google worked together recently to make it work just like on iPhone - no need for a 3rd party app or anything to notify you if an Airtag is with you.
Hmm, I didn't know this. I checked and it's enabled. However, the last scan was 11 days ago. Doesn't seem very useful if it's not scanning that often.
Is it limited to a notification though? The phone and the tag have to communicate with each other in order to send the ping. It should be as easy as a setting on your phone that says "do not process airtag data" and no tags ping through your phone if you don't allow it.
This would be useless. It’s like turning off a single bulb in a room full of lights in the hopes that it gets dark. One single device falling off as an avenue when you’re surrounded by other devices it can connect to is useless.
Apple and Google collaborated on a specification for this and anti-stalking rolled out to Android in August.
Great! This lawsuit is even more silly then.
They put out an android app that will notify people of AirTags not that long after they first came out, so they already have. But, as is kinda obvious, not so many people know about it.
The pixels seem to have it by default. I don't have the Apple app, but my phone will tell me the airtag on my keys was following me. It's pointless though, because it shows up a couple hours after the fact.
That's not pointless at all. Stalking is typically an ongoing activity.
Fair point. I still feel that it could be better. I'm seeing that I can go to work, be there all day, and come home, and only receive the notification late evening. I'd prefer it to be faster for the sake of those affected by actual stalking.
If the court certified a class of people alleging a claim against Apple based on damages incurred as a result of the AirTag products, the case, at the very least, deserves to be heard on its merits.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable that something like this would go to trial. The questions of what statutes, if any, has Apple violated and what liability Apple should hold deserve to be answered in a court of equity.
Now whether the final ruling will be fair and just depends on your view of our system of civil courts and the doctrine of stare decisis.
Think of it this way; if the court agrees with you, then there is precedent set that implies corporations may not have liability under a set of circumstances similar to the ones described in this article. There are broader implications of the question that go beyond Apple.
As someone who’s ex kept me in misery for several years without one, I respectfully disagree.
It's so dumb how people say "this community" and they it on every community. It's not a specific community; it's people in general.
Apples "airtags" are proprietary