How Apple’s Find My app “cost” a US city millions of dollars

AppleThe Find My app has cost the city of Denver US$3.76 million compensation and damages. In 2022, city police raid and ransack an elderly woman’s home in search of a stolen truck and guns.
According to a CNN report, denver police they were looking to recover a stolen truck loaded with weapons, ammunition and cash. For this, the police used Apple’s Find My technology in another iPhone to locate the vehicle. However, the police picked the wrong house in a fairly wide area to break into and catch the thieves.
Because of this raid out of place, 78 years old Ruby Johnson filed a lawsuit against the police. As compensation, the city will pay Johnson an award of $3.76 million.
Also, the officers charged: Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy – were also sued as individuals. Denver police had previously cleared both men of wrongdoing, but the jury disagreed.

How Apple’s Find My app played a role

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the case on Johnson’s behalf. The lawsuit mentioned that the attack was carried out based on a “presumed location ping of the Find My app on an iPhone that the agents did not understand and for which they were not trained.”
According to the complaint, police relied on a “Find My” ping from an iPhone 11 that was likely still in the stolen truck. However, the identified area included parts of six other properties in parts of four city blocks.
In a statement, Johnson’s attorney Tim Macdonald said, “We are disturbed by the lack of training or policy changes and hope that the punitive damages award 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.
In addition, the officers must pay nearly $1.25 million each in punitive and compensatory damages. A Denver district court clerk noted that the city has not yet filed an appeal of the verdict.