An Oregon woman is suing Apple for $75,000 after her ex-boyfriend allegedly stalked her by hiding an Apple AirTag under her car.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court records, accused Apple of negligence and failing to protect victims from AirTag stalking after the device was found underneath her car during a January inspection, The Oregonian reported.
Even though she uses an iPhone, she never received an alert from Apple that an AirTag was traveling with her vehicle, according to the lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in Medford.
The woman’s ex-boyfriend used the AirTag to track her daily movements without her knowledge. While she was being stalked, her ex subjected her to verbal and written threats, property destruction and severe stress, according to the lawsuit.
Medford police later charged her ex-boyfriend with stalking using a GPS device, according to the lawsuit.
Apple AirTags use Bluetooth to connect to nearby iPhones or iPads that are in the Find My network, and the AirTag is also pinned to a map. If the AirTag separates from its owner and is detected near another iPhone, that user is supposed to receive a notification about an “Item Detected Near You.”
The notification is meant to identify the unknown AirTag’s location and can play a sound to locate it. If an AirTag travels with someone for an extended period of time, it is supposed to begin playing a chirp to alert people nearby.
However, the woman says she never received any alerts on her iPhone to make her realize there was an AirTag tracking her every move.
The Oregon woman’s case is one of more than 30 lawsuits filed against Apple after a federal judge in California declined to certify a class-action lawsuit against the devices in March.
The company has received more than 40,000 stalking reports from 2021, when the AirTag came out, and 2024, according to the Oregon woman’s lawsuit.
Soon after the device was released, police departments across the U.S. issued public warnings that they could be used for stalking. At the time, Apple released a statement on its website apologizing, but did not recall the devices.
“The low cost and wide availability of AirTags has democratized stalking, making it accessible to virtually anyone with $29 and an iPhone,” the suit said.
The woman is seeking a court order blocking Apple from continuing to sell AirTags without improved anti-stalking safeguards, as well as compensatory damages of $75,000, according to KOIN 6.
The Independent has contacted Apple for comment.
