AirTag lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Jane Doe M.R. 1 filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc.
- Why: Doe claims Apple AirTags facilitate stalking.
- Where: The Apple AirTag lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.
- How to get help: If someone used an Apple AirTag to track your location, stalk, harass or physically harm you, you may qualify to take legal action.
Apple is facing a new lawsuit alleging its AirTag products facilitate stalking and unwanted tracking.
Plaintiff Jane Doe M.R. 1 filed the lawsuit against Apple on Sept. 16 in Illinois federal court, arguing Apple must be held accountable for its continued failure to adequately protect members of the public from being stalked.
The plaintiff claims the tracking product, facilitated by an Apple device, allowed a 70-year-old man to approach her, grab her and follow her into a store. Allegedly, she was forced to relocate multiple times after law enforcement agencies told her there was nothing they could do.
According to the lawsuit, Apple released the AirTag in 2021, knowing full well that it could — and would — be purchased and used by abusive, dangerous individuals to track, coerce, control and otherwise endanger and abuse innocent victims.
Apple also knew that adequate safeguards had not yet been implemented, Doe claims, but Apple nonetheless made the AirTag available to the public.
“Since that time, Apple has played — and continues to play — catch up, quietly introducing new features that attempt to curtail the dangers of a product that is now five years old,” the lawsuit claims, alleging Apple’s AirTags have become a critical and shameful part of the stalking ecosystem.
More than 40,000 AirTag stalking reports filed since 2021, lawsuit claims
According to the lawsuit, from April 20, 2021, to April 5, 2024, Apple received more than 40,000 AirTag stalking reports and over 1,000 complaints per month on average concerning the product.
AirTags emit Bluetooth signals that are detected by millions of nearby Apple devices. These devices make up the Find My network, which automatically and securely relays the missing item’s location back to Apple and onto the owner.
The ubiquity of Apple products, and their constituency in the Find My network, means that an AirTag can more reliably transmit location data than any competitor, the lawsuit argues. Doe alleges that in all metropolitan areas and even many rural areas, one is never more than 100 yards away from an Apple device.
Prior to and upon the AirTag’s release, Doe claims advocates and technologists urged the company to rethink the product and to consider its inevitable use in stalking.
In response, Apple heedlessly forged ahead, dismissing concerns and pointing to mitigation features that it claimed rendered the devices “stalker proof,” the AirTag lawsuit says.
Doe is suing for negligence, strict product liability, consumer fraud and invasion of privacy. She is seeking damages and a court order enjoining Apple from further unlawful or unfair practices with respect to the design, manufacture and release into the market of its AirTags.
This Apple AirTag lawsuit is the latest filing after at least 16 plaintiffs — several using pseudonyms — filed lawsuits on May 2, two months after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria declined to certify a class of alleged stalking victims, suggesting plaintiffs pursue a mass tort instead.
What do you think of the claims made in this latest AirTag lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Molly C. Wells and Edward A. Wallace of Wallace Miller.
The Apple AirTag lawsuit is Jane Doe M.R. 1 v. Apple Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-11362, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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