Apple 'Snooping' On Employees? Lawsuit Makes Startling Claims - Know More

Apple has been accused of snooping on its employees' devices. Reuters reported that a lawsuit has been filed against the tech giant over the alleged illegal monitoring of workers' personal devices and iCloud accounts.

Apple Lawsuit: What Are The Details?

The complaint was filed in California state court by an Apply employee, Amar Bhakta, who works in the digital advertising for Apple. He claims that Apple requires employees to install software on personal devices they use for work, allowing Apple to access their email, photo libraries, health and other data in their smart-phone. The lawsuit also alleges that confidentiality policies bars employees from discussing working conditions, interacting with media, and engaging in legally-protected whistleblowing, Reuters reported. Bhakta, who has worked for Apple since 2020, says he was barred from talking about his work on podcasts and instructed to remove information about his working conditions from his LinkedIn profile, Reuters said. "Apple's surveillance policies and practices chill, and thus also unlawfully restrain, employee whistleblowing, competition, freedom of employee movement in the job market, and freedom of speech," the lawsuit said.

Apple Lawsuit: What Was Apple's Response?

Apple says the lawsuit lacks merit and the workers are trained annually about their rights  to discuss working conditions. “At Apple, we're focused on creating the best products and services in the world and we work to protect the inventions our teams create for customers," the company said.

Apple Lawsuit: What Else Is Apple Accused Of?

Lawyers for Bhakta also represent two women who filed a lawsuit in June accusing Apple of systematically underpaying female workers in its engineering, marketing, and AppleCare divisions. Apple has said it is committed to inclusion and pay equity.Apple is also facing at least three complaints from a U.S. labor board claiming it has illegally deterred employees from discussing issues such as sex bias and pay discrimination with each other and the media, including by restricting their use of social media and workplace messaging app Slack. The company has denied wrongdoing. The new lawsuit was filed under a unique California law that allows workers to sue their employers on behalf of the state and keep 35 per cent of any penalties that are recovered, Reuters reported.