All posts tagged: stalking

Apple Faces Dozens of Lawsuits Over AirTag Stalking After Class Action Denied

Apple Faces Dozens of Lawsuits Over AirTag Stalking After Class Action Denied

Published by skeptic

Apple is facing over 30 lawsuits from people who claim to have been stalked using Apple AirTags. The filings come after an AirTag lawsuit from 2022 (Hughes v. Apple) failed to get class certification. In each filing, Apple is accused of releasing the ‌AirTag‌ while being aware that it could be “purchased and used by abusive, dangerous individuals, to track, coerce, control, and otherwise endanger and abuse innocent victims.” Further, the lawsuits say that Apple knew adequate safeguards were not in place when the ‌AirTag‌ launched in 2021, and Apple is aware that “AirTags remain a profound risk” to people like the plaintiffs. Apple reportedly received more than 40,000 stalking reports between April 2021 and April 2024, and Apple internal documents sourced from the original lawsuit show the company knew its safeguards would only “deter as opposed to prevent malicious use.” The company also acknowledged that it “should have consulted domestic abuse organizations on the unwanted tracking policy before shipping.” Multiple news reports of AirTags being used for stalking are referenced, including cases that ended …

Terrifying footage shows huge shark stalking hydrofoilers off Santa Barbara coast

Terrifying footage shows huge shark stalking hydrofoilers off Santa Barbara coast

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more A hydrofoiling trip off the Santa Barbara coast took a terrifying turn when two friends were stalked by a large shark. The friends, Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise, shared footage of the scary encounter, which lasted around five minutes as they were hydrofoiling – riding surfboards equipped with underwater wings that lift them above the surface. “I wanted it to be a dolphin,” Takeda told KTLA. “I honestly didn’t think it was a dolphin, but I wanted it to be one. I yelled, ‘Tavis, is this a dolphin?’” Takeda told the outlet that, in the moment, there was no time to feel fear, even as the shark appeared to take an unusual interest in him. “Lots of people see the shark, but that’s it …

Time To Bring Stalkers Out Of The Shadows Says Ellie Reeves

Time To Bring Stalkers Out Of The Shadows Says Ellie Reeves

Published by Sam Flores

As solicitor general, I have reviewed hundreds of cases involving the most horrendous crimes. Murder, rape, domestic abuse. These are serious offences where victims suffer terrible abuse and trauma. But what about a crime that is sometimes harder to spot? Something that can happen in plain sight or lurks in the shadows at the other end of the phone, or behind a keyboard. Stalking is a sinister crime. Perpetrators want to have control of their victims. They are persistent and unpredictable. They want their victims to be intimidated, have their confidence shattered and live in constant fear. That is why National Stalking Awareness Week is so important. It shines an important spotlight on this awful crime and opens conversations, so victims know that there is support out there. That they can share their stories and not suffer alone. I am proud to be part of a government that has committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. As Solicitor General, I work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, who have prioritised tackling …

Stalking victim sues OpenAI, claims ChatGPT fueled her abuser’s delusions and ignored her warnings

Stalking victim sues OpenAI, claims ChatGPT fueled her abuser’s delusions and ignored her warnings

Published by skeptic

After months of conversations with ChatGPT,  a 53-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur became convinced he’d discovered a cure for sleep apnea and that powerful people were coming after him, according to a new lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco County. He then allegedly used the tool to stalk and harass his ex-girlfriend. Now the ex-girlfriend is suing OpenAI, alleging the company’s technology enabled the acceleration of her harassment, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. She claims OpenAI ignored three separate warnings that the user posed a threat to others, including an internal flag classifying his account activity as involving mass-casualty weapons.  The plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe to protect her identity, is suing for punitive damages. She also filed a temporary restraining order Friday asking the court to force OpenAI to block the user’s account, prevent him from creating new ones, notify her if he attempts to access ChatGPT, and preserve his complete chat logs for discovery. OpenAI has agreed to suspend the user’s account but has refused the rest, according to Doe’s lawyers. …

AI Delusions Are Leading to Domestic Abuse, Harassment, and Stalking

AI Delusions Are Leading to Domestic Abuse, Harassment, and Stalking

Published by José Betancourt

By the time the public harassment started, a woman told Futurism, she was already living in a nightmare. For months, her then-fiancé and partner of several years had been fixating on her and their relationship with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In mid-2024, she explained, they’d hit a rough patch as a couple; in response, he turned to ChatGPT, which he’d previously used for general business-related tasks, for “therapy.”  Before she knew it, she recalled, he was spending hours each day talking with the bot, funneling everything she said or did into the model and propounding on pseudo-psychiatric theories about her mental health and behavior. He started to bombard the woman with screenshots of his ChatGPT interactions and copy-pasted AI-generated text, in which the chatbot can be seen armchair-diagnosing her with personality disorders and insisting that she was concealing her real feelings and behavior through coded language. The bot often laced its so-called analyses with flowery spiritual jargon, accusing the woman of engaging in manipulative “rituals.” Trying to communicate with her fiancé was like walking on “ChatGPT eggshells,” …

Obsessed fan’s deadly stalking led to young actress’ tragic murder | US | News

Obsessed fan’s deadly stalking led to young actress’ tragic murder | US | News

Published by Sam Flores

Rebecca was preparing to audition for The Godfather Part III before her murder (Image: Getty Images) Rebecca Schaeffer, a promising young actress, was murdered by a deranged admirer . The former teenage model began her acting career on the soap opera Guiding Light before landing her breakthrough role in the sitcom My Sister Sam. Prior to her shocking death, she was scheduled to meet Francis Ford Coppola and audition for Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III. Rebecca was just 21 and residing in Los Angeles at the time. She was also romantically involved with director Brad Silberling. Her murder later inspired his 2002 film, Moonlight Mile, which explores a man’s anguish following his fiancée’s killing. On July 19, 1989, Rebecca was fatally gunned down by Robert Bardo, an unhinged stalker, at her LA flat. Robert initially became obsessed with Rebecca during her stint on My Sister Sam. Robert penned numerous fan letters to Rebecca, and her psychologist father, Benson Schaeffer, described them as appearing harmless and seeming like correspondence from “just another strange kid …

Former Tory councillor jailed for 20 weeks for stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt | UK News

Former Tory councillor jailed for 20 weeks for stalking Dame Penny Mordaunt | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A former Tory councillor has been jailed for 20 weeks after being found guilty of stalking ex-cabinet minister Dame Penny Mordaunt. Edward Brandt, 61, was found guilty of the offence in November following a trial at Southampton Crown Court, but was acquitted of the more serious offence of stalking involving serious alarm or distress. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the former Conservative cabinet minister said: “I am completely exhausted due to the stress, every time I step out of the building I am looking over my shoulder and checking to see if he is there. “I am living in a constant fear of a confrontation. It’s hugely impacted all aspects of my life, both my professional life and personal life, and I cannot stress enough how much I am exhausted by it.” Image: Dame Penny Mordaunt. Pic: PA The court previously heard Dame Penny believed Brandt was a “real threat” and feared “sexual violence” because of his “creepy” behaviour. The trial was told that Brandt sent at least 17 emails and …

These reporters were doing their jobs. The Trump administration accused them of stalking.

These reporters were doing their jobs. The Trump administration accused them of stalking.

Published by Sam Flores

This summer, my colleagues were reporting out a story about the Department of Education’s “final mission,” its effort to undermine public education even as the Trump administration worked feverishly to close the agency. As we do with all stories, the reporters reached out to those who would be featured in the article for comment. And so began a journey that showed both the emphasis we place on giving the subjects of our stories an opportunity to comment, as well as the aggressively unhelpful pushback we’ve faced this year as we’ve sought information and responses to questions. Megan O’Matz, a reporter based in Wisconsin on ProPublica’s Midwest team, first asked the department’s press office for an interview in mid-August. At the same time, we emailed top administration officials who were making crucial decisions within the agency, including Lindsey Burke, deputy chief of staff for policy and programs, and Meg Kilgannon, director of strategic partnerships. In response to the outreach to Kilgannon, department spokesperson Madison Biedermann told O’Matz to “Please direct all media inquiries to press@ed.gov.” Reached …

Lord spiritual ‘wrongly denied’ stalking victim’s claims

Lord spiritual ‘wrongly denied’ stalking victim’s claims

Published by Sam Flores

A bishop who sits in the House of Lords allegedly denied serious claims made by a victim of stalking and contradicted the findings of an independent HR investigation. Last year, Venessa Pinto pled guilty to “stalking, involving serious distress or harm” of local assistant church warden Jay Hulme. Pinto had been employed as a lay preacher by the Church of England’s diocese of Leicester. An “independent HR expert” found Pinto was responsible for the abuse against Hulme. But bishop of Leicester Martyn Snow (pictured), who sits by right in the House of Lords as a ‘lord spiritual’, contradicted the findings and failed to uphold the complaint. Snow is a favourite to replace Justin Welby as archbishop of Canterbury. Welby resigned last year after a review revealed he “could and should” have done more in response to the sadistic abuse by John Smyth. ‘Devastating campaign of stalking and harassment’ According to the BBC, Pinto conducted a “devastating campaign of stalking and harassment” against Hulme, who is gay, after he rejected her romantic overtures in 2021. In …