Apple employee suing company for spying on its workers

An Apple employee has filed a lawsuit, accusing the company of spying on its workers via their personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices.

The employee claims that workers are required to give up the right to personal privacy, and that the company has the right to engage in “physical, video and electronic surveillance” of its employees when they’re at home.

According to the plaintiff, who’s been working in advertising technology for Apple since 2020, Apple uses its privacy policies to force workers to not publicly speak about their job, and to remove certain information from their LinkedIn page.

“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 says according to Semafor.

Allegedly, Apple demands that employees only use Apple devices like iPhones and iPads. Because Apple puts restrictions on its own devices, most employees end up using their personal smartphones and tablets. When using their own devices, they’re required to use their personal iCloud accounts. They also have to agree that Apple is allowed to install software that tracks everything that happens on the device, including collecting real-time location data.

“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, video, notes and more), are subject to search by Apple,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint goes on by claiming that Apple “actively discourages” using work-only iCloud accounts.

Apple disagrees with the claims in the lawsuit. “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,” the company says in a statement.

This isn’t the first time Apple is being accused of invading employees’ privacy. Former employees have voiced their concerns in the past about the company’s ability to access their personal information.

This new lawsuit should shed more light on Apple’s policies in practice.