A Medford woman is suing Apple after alleging that her former boyfriend hid an AirTag beneath her car and used it to monitor her movements for months. The federal complaint, filed Sept. 16, identifies the woman as Jane Doe and says her iPhone never warned her that an unknown tracker was traveling with her. The allegations have not been tested at trial. The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported the lawsuit.
According to the complaint as described in the report, she discovered the device on Jan. 6 after her former boyfriend allegedly monitored her daily travel. The complaint also alleges threats and property damage. Medford police have charged the former boyfriend with stalking involving a GPS device; those criminal allegations, like the claims against Apple, remain unresolved.
What the lawsuit claims
The woman, through attorney Erick J. Haynie, accuses Apple of negligence, selling a defective product and violating Oregon's unfair-trade-practices law. She seeks damages and an order requiring stronger anti-stalking safeguards before AirTags are sold. The complaint argues that Apple's design and warning systems did not protect her from alleged misuse by another person.
AirTags use Bluetooth and Apple's Find My network to help locate items through nearby Apple devices. Apple's anti-tracking system is intended to notify people when an unfamiliar AirTag appears to be moving with them and to help them locate it. The lawsuit alleges that neither an iPhone notification nor an audible alert protected the Medford woman in this case. The filing does not establish why an alert allegedly failed or whether the device's speaker had been altered.
A case within a broader legal dispute
The Medford suit is not the first case to challenge Apple's responsibility for AirTag misuse. In a separate California case, a federal judge on March 10, 2026, refused to certify a proposed class of stalking victims suing Apple over AirTag design and safety issues, according to Law360. That ruling addressed whether the claims could proceed as a class action; it did not decide the merits of the Medford woman's allegations.
The legal question in the Medford case is therefore narrower than whether AirTags can be misused: It will also involve whether Apple had a legal duty to prevent or reduce that misuse, whether its warnings and safeguards were adequate, and whether those alleged shortcomings caused the harm claimed by the plaintiff. Apple has disputed similar claims in related litigation and has characterized AirTag misuse as intentional conduct by third parties, according to OregonLive's report.
Stalking and technology
Federal data show that stalking is broader than any single device or case. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 1.3%, or 3.4 million, U.S. residents age 16 or older experienced stalking in 2019. The survey included technology-related conduct such as tracking a person's whereabouts with a tracking device or application, but it did not measure how often AirTags were involved. Bureau of Justice Statistics data therefore provide national context, not proof of a trend in AirTag use or of the allegations in Medford.
The distinction matters because reports of technology-facilitated stalking can involve phones, applications, vehicles, social-media accounts or other tracking tools. A federal survey estimate cannot establish how frequently a particular product is used, whether reports have increased since 2019, or whether a device's safeguards failed in an individual incident.
Safety and local assistance
Oregon Judicial Department materials advise survivors documenting technology abuse to make a safety plan because an alleged abuser's behavior may escalate during an investigation. Oregon Judicial Department materials also cite the National Network to End Domestic Violence Safety Net Project.
The Oregon Department of Justice recommends that people experiencing stalking contact a local crisis hotline, victim-services agency, domestic-violence program or rape-crisis program. Those organizations can help with safety planning, information about local laws, referrals and decisions about options such as a protection order. Oregon Department of Justice guidance says people should seek assistance suited to their circumstances.
For Jackson County residents, the county's Victim Assistance Program says it provides support, information, resources, advocacy and referrals to victims of crimes committed in the county. Jackson County Victim Assistance Program information can help people navigate services and the criminal-justice process.
The Medford lawsuit will now proceed against the backdrop of those broader safety concerns, but its central claims remain allegations. The court will have to determine what happened to the plaintiff, what Apple knew about the risks, and whether the company's design or warnings violated the law.
