In just a week’s span, tech giant Apple has once again come into the limelight for its Apple Watch for all the wrong reasons.
This time, Apple is being sued because of a legal complaint which states that the Apple Watch is racially prejudiced.
A NewYork resident named Alex Morales has filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. He alleged that the Apple wearable he owns is racially biased on darker skin tones for its blood oximeter health feature. Oximeter is a feature which tells about the saturation level of oxygen in blood .
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However, the complainant argued that the Apple Watch is “purported to measure blood oxygen levels, and he believed it did this irrespective of skin tone, which was relevant to me as I thought it would suit my skin tone too.”
The lawsuit further states, “for decades, there have been reports that such devices were significantly less accurate in measuring blood oxygen levels based on skin color,”
According to Morales’ suit, Apple made a false claim in its advertisements and commitments about the watch features, and keeping the high price in mind, $400, this was not expected of a company like Apple.
Morales is, therefore, bringing a class action lawsuit, which will also represent every NewYorker who bought the Apple Watch within the legal time frame.
In response to the allegation, Apple made a comment that “Apple Watch is only designed for general fitness and wellness objectives”. Measurements taken by blood oxygen apps are not meant for medical use, including self-diagnosis or doctor consultation.
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