Current Apple employee sues company for allegedly snooping on staffers’ personal devices

Amar Bhakta, a manager of digital ad tech and operations at Apple, alleged in a lawsuit filed in California state court Sunday that the company requires employees to give up their right to personal privacy when they work there. 

Employees must use an Apple device, such as an iPhone, for work, but because any Apple device the company issues to employees can’t be used for personal reasons, many opt to use a personal Apple device, the lawsuit claims. Yet, because these personal devices are used for work, the tech company, which has made privacy a key part of its messaging, allegedly claims broad permissions to “access, search, and use all of its employees’ data—including their personal data,” on the personal devices, according to a press release.

Apart from it being impractical to carry around two phones, even if employees were to choose to use a phone issued by the company, the Apple-owned device would still record the employees’ location, among other personal details, the lawsuit claims. 

Employees who use their personal devices for work often use their personal iCloud accounts because Apple only allows one iCloud account per device. Apple can then use the iCloud account on a personal device that an employee uses for work to access their personal data and that of any devices synced to that iCloud account, which could include devices owned by an employees’ family, the lawsuit alleges.

Apple also requires employees to agree it “can engage in physical, video, and electronic surveillance of them,” and that it can search an employee’s Apple and non-Apple devices while they are on “company premises,” which according to one Apple policy, can include their home offices, according to the lawsuit. 

“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 reads. 

The lawsuit also alleges that through its employee policies, Apple prevents employees from discussing “compensation” and “training” against California law and prevents them from accepting speaking engagements that relate to Apple’s business without company approval. Because of this policy, Bhakta was not allowed to accept speaking…