Apple
is
suing
a
former
employee
for
leaking
confidential
information,
including
unknown
details
about
Apple’s
Journal
app,
the
development
of
the
VisionOS
headset,
and
more,
to
journalists
and
employees
of
other
companies.
The
lawsuit,
filed
ten
days
ago
in
California
state
court
(24CV433319,
pdf),
says
Andrew
Aude
also
leaked
regulatory
compliance
strategies,
employee
headcounts,
and
other
product
hardware
characteristics.
As
reported
previously
by
MacRumors,
in
at
least
one
message,
the
company
says
Aude
claimed
he
leaked
information
“so
he
could
“kill”
products
and
features
with
which
he
took
issue.”
Apple
referenced
many
of
the
communications
in
the
lawsuit:
Between
June
and
September
2023
alone,
Mr.
Aude
connected
with
a
Wall
Street
Journal
(WSJ)
journalist,
whom
Mr.
Aude
code
named
“Homeboy,”
over
1,400
times
using
an
encrypted
messaging
app.
Mr.
Aude
also
read
“Homeboy”
a
final
feature
list
for
an
unannounced
Apple
product
over
the
phone.
Mr.
Aude
sent
another
journalist
at
The
Information
over
10,000
text
messages
and
traveled
across
the
continent
to
meet
with
her.
The
following
screenshot
of
an
encrypted
message
exchange
on
the
Signal
app
between
Aude
and
a
WSJ
journalist
appears
in
the
complaint,
as
Apple
says,
“Mr.
Aude
often
took
and
saved
screenshots
of
his
communications
on
his
Apple-issued
work
iPhone
to
preserve
them
for
posterity.”
Apple
accuses
Aude
of
leaking
a
list
of
finalized
features
for
Apple’s
Journal
app
in
a
phone
call
that
occurred
in
April
2023
to
the
same
reporter.
A
story
about
the
unreleased
app’s
features
appeared
that
same
month
in
The
Wall
Street
Journal.
Aude
joined
Apple
in
2016
as
an
iOS
engineer
focused
on
optimizing
battery
performance.
Apple’s
lawyers
write
that
the
nature
of
the
role
gave
Aude
access
to
“information
regarding
dozens
of
Apple’s
most
sensitive
products.”
The
leaks
weren’t
discovered
until
late
2023,
the
company
states.
When
representatives
from
Apple
first
sat
down
with
Aude
in
November
2023,
he
reportedly
denied
his
involvement
in
the
leaks
and
lied
about
having
his
Apple-issued
iPhone
with
him. Then,
they
claim,
he
faked
needing
to
go
to
the
bathroom,
“extracted
his
iPhone
from
his
pocket
during
the
break
and
permanently
deleted
significant
amounts
of
evidence
from
his
device,”
including
the
Signal
app.
Then,
in
a
second
meeting
on
December
12th,
the
complaint
says
“Mr.
Aude
admitted
that
he
leaked
information
about
Apple’s
strategies
for
regulatory
compliance,
unannounced
products,
development
policies,
and
hardware
characteristics
of
certain
released
products
to
at
least
two
journalists.”
He
was
fired
three
days
later.
Apple’s
filing
says
the
company
is
seeking
a
jury
trial,
damages,
“restitution
and/or
disgorgement”
of
bonuses
and
stock
options,
plus
“An
order
directing
Mr.
Aude
not
to
disclose
Apple’s
confidential
and
proprietary,
information
to
third
parties
without
its
written
consent.”
Original author: Amrita Khalid
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