Apple sued for 'monitoring employees' personal devices'
An Apple employee has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company monitors employees' use of personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices.
Employee lawsuit accuses Apple of spying on its workers | Semafor
An Apple employee is suing the company over monitoring employee personal devices | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/02/an-apple-employee-is-suing-the-company-over-monitoring-employee-personal-devices/
The lawsuit, filed in a California court on Sunday, December 1, 2024, alleges that Apple employees are being asked to waive their personal privacy rights and that Apple 'may conduct physical, video and electronic surveillance' of employees at home and outside of work hours. The plaintiffs argue that these requirements violate California law.
The lawsuit was filed by Apple employee Amar Bhakta, who has worked in Apple's advertising technology division since 2020. The lawsuit also alleges that Apple has used its privacy policy to damage Bhakta's job prospects. For example, Apple has barred Bhakta from speaking publicly about digital advertising and forced him to remove information about his job at Apple from the business social networking site LinkedIn.
'For Apple employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden but a prison -- a panopticon under Apple's watch, whether at work or off,' the lawsuit states.
In response to the lawsuit, Apple stated that it opposed the plaintiffs' claims, saying, 'All employees have the right to discuss wages, hours and working conditions - this is part of our business conduct policies and is something that all employees receive annual training on.'
Bhakta is being defended by Chris Baker of the law firms Baker Dolinko & Schwartz and Jahan Saghafi of Outten & Golden. Baker is a lawyer known for suing major technology companies for unlawful employment practices, and he also represented former Uber employee Susan Fowler, who brought attention to sexual harassment issues in the tech industry. Saghafi has a track record of winning a large class action settlement against Uber.
The plaintiffs allege that Apple's policies encourage employees to digitally blend their work and home lives, making it too easy for Apple to know what employees do outside of work.
For example, Apple requires employees to use only Apple products at work. However, because Apple places restrictions on company-owned devices, most employees end up using their own Apple devices. If employees use their own devices for work, they must use their personal iCloud accounts and install software that allows the company to see all activity on the devices, including real-time location information.
In addition, Apple's confidentiality policy states that 'When you use a personal account on an iPhone, iPad, or computer managed or owned by Apple, all data stored on the device (email, photos, videos, notes, etc.) may be searchable by Apple.'
Employees can avoid Apple's monitoring by using company-owned devices and using separate iCloud accounts for work, but the lawsuit states that 'Apple actively discourages the use of work iCloud accounts.'
Former Apple employees have previously complained about Apple's surveillance of employees, so Semafor, which reported on the lawsuit, wrote that 'this lawsuit provides more detailed information about Apple's practices and the policies that allow them.'
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