Apple Sues Former Employee for Using Leaks to Try and ‘Kill’ Products He Disliked

Apple is suing a former employee for allegedly leaking company secrets to journalists in an effort to pressure the iPhone maker to abandon certain projects.  

As MacRumors reports, former iOS software engineer Andrew Aude used the leaks “so he could ‘kill’ products and features with which he took issue.” The tips included sharing details about Apple’s then-secret Vision Pro headset with a non-company employee back in 2020.  

According to Apple’s lawsuit, which was filed in California’s Superior Court, the company caught Aude leaking the information through his Apple-issued iPhone. The lawsuit even contains a screenshot of a text he allegedly sent to a Wall Street Journal reporter. “Can’t wait for chaos to break out before Apple corporate people even wake up,” Aude allegedly wrote at one point.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple hired Aude in 2016 after he graduated from college. During his stint at the company, he allegedly spent five years leaking details “about more than a half- dozen different Apple policies and products.” This included messaging a WSJ reporter over 1,400 times between June and September 2023, and sending another reporter at The Information over 10,000 text messages. 

The lawsuit suggests Aude was behind a WSJ story about Apple’s Journal app for iOS and another report about the company’s decision to restrict employees from using ChatGPT. 

“As another example, around November 2022, Mr. Aude shared confidential details about Apple’s strategies for regulatory compliance,” the lawsuit claims. In addition, Apple alleges that Aude leaked information to “employees at other technology companies,” along with at least three journalists.

Apple said it finally uncovered Aude’s activities last fall, even though he was using the encrypted messaging app Signal. How the company did so was left unclear, but in the lawsuit, Apple says it met with him in November to discuss his role in the leaks. Although Aude denied any involvement, the lawsuit claims he pretended he had to go to the bathroom, and promptly began deleting incriminating information from his company-issued iPhone. 

In response, Apple fired Aude. But the lawsuit says the company still doesn’t know the full extent of his leaks since he deleted the evidence on his phone. “Due to Mr. Aude’s work on battery performance at Apple, he was privy to information regarding dozens of Apple’s most sensitive projects, including Apple’s development of systems-on-chips and iPhone products, among others,” the lawsuit adds.  

As a result, the iPhone maker says it’s suing Aude to prevent him from leaking additional secrets, and demanding he pay damages. The company cites his alleged leaks as a breach of contract, which forbids him from sharing company secrets.

Aude couldn’t be reached for immediate comment.

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