Apple AirTags and Tiles are great! I can find my keys, money clip, luggage, and other stuff that I misplace, or worry will get legs and walk away.  Parents can use them to keep an eye on young children, and "children" can use them to help find lost parents (whose memory may not be the same).  But with every device, they come with some problems.

There are several suits against Apple because stalkers are finding their exes after placing an AirTag on them.  Both men and women are using the device to stalk former significant others.  One woman used an AirTag to track her ex-boyfriend and then run him over with her car.  Two women who are suing in a class action lawsuit are claiming the devices are dangerous because their exes were able to find them after trying to avoid them.  Bloomberg reports, "The women accuse the company of negligently releasing an unsafe device and are asking the court to award unspecified monetary damages."  See Hughes v. Apple, Inc., 3:22-cv-07668, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).  But is this Apple's Fault?

It's a mixed bag of controversy in a similar vein to gun violence: "do guns kill people, or do people (use guns) to kill people"?  Apple potentially set itself up with its AirTags release in 2019.  It promoted that personal privacy was at the forefront of its creation.  But as people were abusing the use of their tags, stalking reports increased.  And now Apple faces a class action suit (mind you, Tile has had similar issues and responses to address the problem, although there seem to be many more Apple suits then lawsuits against Tile – perhaps "deeper pockets"?).

Both Apple and Tile took some responsive actions back in March 2022.  The devices now alert you if an AirTag or Tile may be nearby and tracking you.  Unfortunately, neither manufacturer can tell if the other, i.e., their respective competitor, is nearby.  Granted, you can get a Tile app for your iPhone, but you can't get an AirTag tracker on a non-Apple device (at least not yet?). In the end, as Mike Peterson at Apple Insider suggests, it will have to come down to the tech companies working together to resolve this problem.  Or the government may step in and require the "tracker" companies to do something they may not want to do. My guess is big tech won't like that at all.  But what does this mean for the lawyer?

First, they are a great tool for keeping track of your stuff.  We are all busy, and the ability to keep an eye out on our stuff and find it easier makes life less stressful and all the better.  Second, while I don't know the final, let alone right, answer to this suit, tech companies will likely improve protective measures for one's personal privacy and safety as the news and lawsuit(s) progress.  But lastly, you need, and you should probably remind your clients (in areas like family and criminal law, for example), to be vigilant, mindful of your surroundings, and learn how to monitor for trackers even if you don't use them. Oh ya, and you should (perhaps tell them not to stalk others!

Be safe!

MTC.