Apple sued its former employee, who leaked the company's sensitive information to the media and other tech companies. The company is taking the employee to court over various conducts and demanding upwards of $25,000 in damages. The former employee, Andrew Aude broke Apple's confidentiality agreement and also violated labor laws with his actions to which he agreed.
Apple sues ex-employee for leaking sensitive information to journalists and media
The employee joined Apple back in 2016 as an iOS software engineer working on battery performance optimization, which allowed him access to a vast majority of information related to the software and hardware. However, the information he gathered was not limited to iOS or the iPhone but also the recently announced Vision Pro. Apple's lawsuit against Andrew stated that he used the company's iPhone to leak information about forthcoming products and services, including policies, the Journal app, Vision Pro, additional developmental policies, and much more.
Apple alleges that Andrew leaked a boatload of features related to the unreleased Journal app to a journalist at The Wall Street Journal over the phone. Soon after, the publication posted an article related to the forthcoming app and its features. He sent "over 1,400" messages to the journalist, who is referred to as "Homeboy." In addition, he sent "over 10,000" messages to another journalist from The Information.
As another example, an October 2020 screenshot on Mr. Aude's Apple-issued work iPhone shows that he disclosed Apple's development of products within the spatial computing space to a non-Apple employee. Mr. Aude made this disclosure even though Apple's development efforts were confidential and not known to the public. Over the following months, Mr. Aude disclosed additional Apple confidential information—including information concerning unannounced products, and hardware information.
According to Apple, Andrew purposely leaked the information to media outlets and journalists. As mentioned, Andrew admitted that he transferred the information to "kill" the features and products, which caused an issue for him. The company claims that the early revelation of the features and products took the "surprise and delight" element out of the products.
The company found out about the leaks by the end of 2023 when Andrew was forced from Apple due to his actions. Andrew denied leaking the confidential information in an interview held in November 2023. Apple claims that Andrew went to the bathroom during the interview to erase a boatload of evidence that went against him, including the Signal app through which he communicated with journalists. However, he later admitted to some of the allegations against him in December. Apple attempted to resolve the situation outside of court, but Andrew did not play nice and did not cooperate.
Apple does not bring suit against its former employees lightly. As a result of Mr. Aude's willful destruction of evidence, however, Apple cannot know the universe of what he disclosed to whom and when. Before filing this lawsuit, Apple reached out to Mr. Aude to potentially resolve this matter. Over a month ago, Apple contacted Mr. Aude to understand the full scope of his leaks and ask for his full cooperation in resolving this matter without litigation. Mr. Aude, however, did not commit to cooperating.
Apple classifies Andrew as an "ongoing threat" as the amount of information disclosed to journalists and media outlets is unknown. The company is aiming for compensatory and punitive damages from Andrew. You can check out the full PDF file here. We will keep you updated on the matter as soon as further information is available.
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