An Apple employee has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that it requires employees to give up their right to privacy and also monitors them not only at work, but also outside of it. In the lawsuit, Amar Bhakta alleges that Apple accesses employee data through company-owned devices, including personal iPhones, the use of which is “actively encouraged.”
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The plaintiff claims that Apple allows employees to use company-owned devices at work, but the company also forces them to bring their own iPhones to work, where they are installed with internal software. The lawsuit says that Apple’s policy is that data associated with such devices, including email, photos, videos, notes and more, is “subject to Apple searches.”
It is also noted that employees who use personal iPhones at work are required to link their iCloud accounts to their smartphones, which supposedly allows Apple to collect employee location data and other information when they are not at work. The plaintiff argues that Apple is violating California law by requiring employees to agree to a policy that allows the company to “conduct physical, video and electronic surveillance” of them, as well as the right to search data on Apple and other manufacturers’ devices on “company premises.” ”, which in some cases may apply to employees working remotely from home.
«For Apple employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. This is a prison yard. A panopticon in which employees, both on and off the job, are always under the all-seeing eye of Apple,” Bhakt said in a statement. An Apple spokesman called such accusations unfounded.
Interestingly, this is not the first report of such internal Apple rules. In 2021, information leaked to the media that the company was forcing employees to link personal accounts to the devices they use at work. Apple has long been known for its high level of secrecy when it comes to the company’s developments and the release of new products. Other tech giants such as Google and Amazon have also been accused of spying on employees in the past.