Apple, AAPL, illegally spying on employees’ personal devices, per new lawsuit

Apple, $AAPL, illegally spying on employees’ personal devices, per new lawsuit.

A new lawsuit filed by an Apple employee accuses the company of monitoring its workers through their personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices.

The suit, submitted Sunday evening in a California state court, alleges that Apple imposes policies that violate employees’ rights to personal privacy. These policies reportedly allow Apple to “engage in physical, video, and electronic surveillance” of its employees, even in their homes and after their employment with the company ends.

The lawsuit, brought by Amar Bhakta, an Apple advertising technology employee since 2020, claims that Apple’s privacy policies have negatively impacted his career. For example, Bhakta alleges that the company prohibited him from publicly speaking about digital advertising and forced him to remove professional information about his Apple role from LinkedIn.

“For Apple employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. It is a prison yard. A panopticon where employees, both on and off duty, are subject to Apple’s all-seeing eye,” the lawsuit states.

Apple strongly denied the allegations, issuing a statement that said: “Every employee has the right to discuss their wages, hours, and working conditions, and this is part of our business conduct policy, which all employees are trained on annually.”

Bhakta is represented by Chris Baker of Baker Dolinko & Schwartz and Jahan Sagafi of Outten & Golden. Both attorneys have experience with high-profile cases in the tech industry. Baker notably represented Susan Fowler in her landmark case against Uber, which exposed systemic sexual harassment, while Sagafi previously settled a major class-action suit against Uber.

The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s policies compel employees to merge their personal and professional lives digitally, granting the company unprecedented access to their private activities. According to the filing, Apple requires employees to use only Apple-manufactured devices for work, but because of the restrictions Apple places on company-owned devices, most employees opt to use their personal Apple devices instead.

Employees using their own devices are allegedly required to link them to their personal iCloud accounts and install software that gives Apple access to nearly all activity on the device, including real-time location data.

The lawsuit also cites Apple’s confidential policy, which reportedly states: “If you use your personal account on an Apple-managed or Apple-owned iPhone, iPad, or computer, any data stored on the device (including emails, photos, videos, notes, and more) are subject to search by Apple.”