the appleThe Find My app cost the city of Denver $3.76 million compensation and damages. In 2022, an elderly woman’s home was badly searched and searched by city police for stolen trucks and weapons.
According to a CNN report, Denver Police they wanted to recover a stolen truck loaded with weapons, ammunition and money. For this, the police used Apple’s Find My technology in another the iPhone to locate the vehicle. However, the police chose the wrong house to attack from a fairly wide area and catch the thieves.
Because of that badly placed grid, 78 years old Ruby Johnson filed a complaint against the police. In damages, the City will pay Johnson $3.76 million.
Additionally, the defendants – Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy – was also sued as an individual. Denver police had previously acquitted both men, but a jury disagreed.
Here’s how Apple’s Find My app fared
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit on Johnson’s behalf. The lawsuit cited that the attack “was based on a purported location ping from an iPhone’s Find My app that officials did not understand and were not trained for.”
According to the complaint, police relied on a “Find My” ping from an iPhone 11 that was still in the stolen truck. However, the identified area contained portions of six other properties in parts of four city blocks.
In a statement, Johnson’s attorneys Tim Macdonald said, “We are concerned about the lack of training or policy change and hope that the compensation amount will send a strong message that the police department must take the constitutional rights of its residents seriously.”
The ACLU and the jury concluded that the two police officers who ordered the raid had no reason to target Johnson’s home.
Additionally, the officers must pay nearly $1.25 million each in compensatory and punitive damages. A Denver Clerk of Court said the city has not yet filed an appeal of the ruling.
