Apple is taking one of its former employees to court for disclosing confidential information. This would have revealed elements on the development of Vision Pro or even the Journal application.
Very often on Frandroid, we reveal or relay leaks around digital products and services. In most cases they come from internal employees who decide to confide in the press. This happened in particular with the Apple Vision Pro, the first mixed reality headset. Apple has discovered that one of its former employees was a bit too talkative and is suing him.
Apple blames ex-employee
It was in March that Apple filed a lawsuit against Andrew Aude, one of its former employees, in California court. According to the company, he violated the non-disclosure agreement between the two parties as well as labor law. He allegedly leaked sensitive information to the media as well as to employees of other technology companies.
As told MacRumors, Andrew Aude arrived at Apple in 2016 as an iOS software engineer after finishing his studies. It was this position that allowed him to access information regarding Apple’s projects. For the company, the engineer wanted “ kill » products and features that he didn’t like. Disclosures which would have given rise to at least five subjects in the press. What also steals the surprise from Apple. The latter says she discovered the pot aux roses at the end of last year: that’s when she fired Andrew Aude.
For Apple, this former employee revealed many of his secrets: Journal, Vision Pro…
According to the complaint filed by Apple, Andrew Aude allegedly used his professional iPhone to disclose information on approximately six Apple projects. This concerns in particular the Journal application as well as the Apple Vision Pro, even though they had not been announced. Thanks to it, product development policies, regulatory compliance strategies and even employee numbers would have been known.
For example, Andrew Aude allegedly gave information to a journalist from Wall Street Journalin April 2023 about Journal features. The two allegedly communicated via Signal, a secure instant messaging app, and exchanged more than 1,400 messages, according to Apple’s complaint. The latter also accuses Andrew Aude of having exchanged more than 10,000 messages with a journalist fromThe Informationwhom he would have even met.
But Andrew Aude would not have only discussed with journalists. The former employee is also accused by Apple of having exchanged with technology companies (therefore potentially competing) about “spatial computing» from the apple brand.