Tech giant Apple, known for its privacy-foremost policy, has found itself embroiled in a lawsuit filed by its employee accusing the company of keeping tabs on its employees through their personal devices, as reported by Fortune. Amar Bhakta, a digital ad tech and operations manager at Apple, alleged in his lawsuit that his employer illegally surveilled its employees' personal devices and iCloud accounts.
He also mentioned that the tech giant mandates its employees to give up their right to personal privacy when they work there, as per media reports.
Apple Accused of Violating Privacy
According to the lawsuit, filed on Sunday in California state court, Apple requires workers to install software on their personal devices used for work. This software supposedly grants Apple access to personal data, including emails, photos, health information, and data from home devices.
Bhakta's complaint also claimed that employees have to use an Apple device for work but the device issued by the company cannot be used for personal use and that is why many employees prefer using their personal devices.
However, since these personal devices are also used for work, the tech company—which promotes privacy as a core value—allegedly claims extensive rights to "access, search, and use all employee data, including personal data," stored on these devices, Bhakta said in a press release. It also alleges that Apple enforces strict confidentiality rules, prohibiting employees from talking about their work conditions or pay, even in whistleblower cases or with the media.
“For Apple’s employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. It is a prison yard. A panopticon where employees, both on and off duty, are ever subject to Apple’s all-seeing eye,” the lawsuit stated.
According to Bhakta, he was also prohibited from accepting speaking engagements which harmed his job prospects. The company also instructed him to edit his LinkedIn to remove some of his work and position related information.
“It’s disappointing that Apple, whose ethos is privacy and confidentiality, would try to monitor and censor me,” said Bhakta.
Why the Lawsuit Stands Out?
Bhakta's lawsuit stood out as a significant one since it comes under a notable California law that lets employees sue their employers on behalf of the state. This law entitles employees to receive 35 per cent of any penalties may be awarded, as a financial incentive to hold employers accountable for workplace violations.
However, in response to these allegations, Apple rejected the claims to be unfounded as per media reports.
In 2011, Apple faced an uproar when it was sued over tracking users' locations without their consent. The lawsuit said that the company violated privacy rights by collecting geolocation data from users’ iPhones, even when location services were turned off. However, the lawsuit was dismissed later but also forced Apple to make changes to its location-tracking practices.
Apple's Privacy Law for Users
According to Apple, its products and services are designed to the principle of privacy by default and collect only the minimum amount of data necessary to provide users with a product or service. The company also claims to deploy industry-leading consent mechanisms to allow our customers to choose whether to share data including their Location, Contacts, Photos, Health and other apps.
Apple said that to secure users' personal data, it uses access management and access controls commensurate with the risk to data to ensure access to data is associated with a business need, such as providing customers with support. It further added, in case of a data security incident that might affect its users’ personal data, the company deploy dedicate team in place to investigate.
