Apple sued by women over AirTag stalking

Apple is being sued by two women who say AirTags were used to stalk them.

The small trackers are designed to be placed on wallets or keys, to prevent them from being lost.

However earlier this year  that several women had found unwanted AirTags tracking them.

Apple has not yet responded to the news request for comment.

Previously the company has said that its AirTags contain several measures that prevent unwanted tracking.

The lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco federal court.

The two women say the AirTags were used by their former partners to track them down.

They also argue that AirTags have been linked to murders this year of women in Akron, Ohio and Indianapolis.

Apple has long been aware, before it released AirTags, that they could be used for criminal activity. On releasing them, Apple said that “AirTags are designed to track items not people”.

The devices use a bluetooth signal which can be detected by Apple’s Find My Network.

The company says it has created a series of safeguards that protect people from being tracked.

AirTags make a beeping noise when separated from an owner for a period of time.

If an AirTag is found moving with a person the AirTag is not registered with, a message should appear on their phone alerting them to it.

The BBC has previously spoken to several women who say they were either notified of, or found, rogue AirTags. One said she found the AirTag taped to her suitcase.

“If you create an item which is useful for tracking stolen items, then you have also created a perfect tool for stalking,” Eva Galperin, Director of Cyber Security at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the news earlier this year.