Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I don't like the appearance of some of these policies, but no one forced him to sign them or work for Apple.
What does it say in your contract? Does it say "We have the right to monitor you both professionally and privately and you must never even hint at where you work"?

And do you even have the qualifications to understand every sentence?
Spoiler: You don’t. Not even lawyers have, argue about words in court for years.

I get it: Apple disciples.
Do yourself a favor, replace in the article "Apple" with "Google", "BP" or "Volkswagen" and you'll understand what they are talking about.
 
Why 2024 is exactly like 1984... Apple has turned into IBM from the 80s.

I remember sitting in a pub with an ex-IBMer and he got very flustered, when his old boss walked in and sat at another table. It sounds like Apple has turned into that type of company, but with 40 years of surveillance innovation at their disposal.
 
some of this seems very fishy, and pretty much standard in the whole tech industry ... people who use their personal phones for work typically have to install this tool from MSFT, name escapes me right now, which monitors usage ...
Will be interesting to see how this unfolds
InTune, we use InTune and AppTec, we also looked at Mobileiron and a couple of others. Apple has their own solution as well.
 
Looking forward to his testimony under oath, of how he feels he was treated unfairly and illegally under CA labor laws.

Apple probably does impose some heavy-handed stuff, but if he signed that line and agreed to it...
One of the reasons I wouldn't want to work in CA. Monitoring employees at the desk is illegal here, as is using video surveillance in most circumstances - I work for a chemical company, so the production area and the loading/unloading areas and storage tanks are monitored, but that is it.

Even things like monitoring email, Teams conversations, telephone calls etc. is all very highly regulated and such a minefield that I've never worked anywhere that even wanted to contemplate it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ralph_sws
Did this guy expect that he should be able to collaborate with his fellow workers at Apple using Google Docs? What does he expect to find at Google, an open shop where he could choose to collaborate using Apple or Microsoft cloud products?

I've no sympathy for this kind of law suit. Apple's policies appear no different from any other company I've worked for back to the 1970s. I realized 50 years ago that I needed to put a firewall between work and personal information. I've always maintained personal devices and work devices separately. It looks like you can do that at Apple also. Perhaps he was just stupid enough to use his personal iCloud account instead of creating one for work purposes only. When I worked at Google, I created a Google account and used it only for work. I used iCloud for personal things. When I left Google, I deleted the work account. Maybe Apple shouldn't hire people stupid enough not to figure this stuff out. Honestly, this guy was smart enough, but not wise enough. And in his rush to find a payday by suing Apple, he let his lawyers include all manner of things that make the guy appear to be too stupid to be allowed to use tech.

As for restricting what can go on LinkedIn or what you can tell subsequent employers... no you cannot reveal Apple company confidential information. You can't say "I worked on advanced proprietary tech XYZ that is going into the upcoming product that is so secret it has only appeared as a rumor on MacRumors twelve times in the last month."

This guy sounds like he has a closet full of participation trophies.
 
Last edited:
The amount of people here who actually blame the employee is quite scary, but they'll be the first to scream out loud the moment they feel mistreated.

If you equalized the laws of privacy and employment in the United States with human rights and the constitution right now, they'd have a combination of slavery and communism.
 
Last edited:
The amount of people here who actually blame the employee is quite scary, but they'll be the first to scream out loud the moment they feel mistreated.

If you equalized the laws of privacy and employment in the United States with human rights and the constitution right now, they'd have a combination of slavery and communism.
I read the terms and conditions of my employment.
 
I can maybe see some valid complaint if you can’t properly search for a new job, or file a complaint about harassment, but being forced into using the Apple ecosystem? I mean, come on, just use the company phone instead of your personal phone! Everyone knows never to let your employer install stuff on your personal devices. That one’s on you.
 
Did this guy expect that he should be able to collaborate with his fellow workers at Apple using Google Docs? What does he expect to find at Google, an open shop where he could choose to collaborate using Apple or Microsoft cloud products?

I've no sympathy for this kind of law suit. Apple's policies appear no different from any other company I've worked for back to the 1970s. I realized 50 years ago that I needed to put a firewall between work and personal information. I've always maintained personal devices and work devices separately.
I've never worked anywhere with such draconian, dehumanizing and human rights violating policies, in over 40 years of employment. But, I don't work in the USA, so companies have to legally treat us like humans and aren't allowed to spy on us.

I expect that is isn't the tools, but that he was forced to use his personal iCloud account for work and thus put it under control of Apple - I would have taken the company device and the company iCloud account, thanks all the same. But that they are monitoring his private communications on his private device on his own time would be illegal here, in Europe. If he was using a company device for private communications, that is a different matter, the company owns the device and the data on it - one of the reasons why I have a company phone and laptop and we have a company policy of no private data on company devices and no company data on private devices.

Also, if I am stressed at work, I can vent with my friends and there is nothing my employer can do about it, unless it is defamation. Likewise, they can't tell me not to fill out my profile on LinkedIn (or Xing, here in Germany) with my job title and what skills I have - if I am working on secret projects that are covered by an NDA, then I couldn't put that in there, but something like "Xcode developer working on iOS core system services," would be acceptable. Similarly, my employer cannot legally stop me posting reviews on sites like Kanunu or Glass Door.

So, I don't see that he is that out of order. The "mistake" of saying he would use his private device was silly, but the draconian spying by the employer is certainly out of order.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vantelimus
Using your private phone for work it is no longer a private phone.
Yes, but spying on communications is illegal, where I live, by an employer, on a company device or not.

Likewise, it would be illegal for my employer to try and stop me filling in my LinkedIn profile, writing employer reviews at Kanunu or Glass Door etc. or letting off steam with friends about what a bad experience work is... Saying that, I like my employer and we have great working conditions, so they don't need to be worried about me making such claims.

Maybe if Apple spent as much time and money making the working environment pleasant, instead of hounding unsatisfied workers, they wouldn't be in this mess either.
 
Whoops! I guess it's all about context.

Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 06.26.38.jpg
 
some of this seems very fishy, and pretty much standard in the whole tech industry ... people who use their personal phones for work typically have to install this tool from MSFT, name escapes me right now, which monitors usage ...
Will be interesting to see how this unfolds
Company Portal.
 
America is so skewed, it's not even funny. I'm so happy I live in a country were privacy and human rights is something that needs to be respected, a company can't simply write and enforce terms as they see fit.

You can't use any kind of surveillance against any of your employees, and pretty much all kinds of such surveillance will give you a lot of trouble in regard to GDPR, which happens to protect both the consumer, but also employees within companies.
 
Bhakta comes across like a problematic employee. Bhakta probably has ALWAYS been a problematic employee. I worked at the fruit stand for ten years and know the type, I worked with the type. Bhakta is "on brand" with type of candidate that they hire, so reading this, it doesn't surprise me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot


America is so skewed, it's not even funny. I'm so happy I live in a country were privacy and human rights is something that needs to be respected, a company can't simply write and enforce terms as they see fit.

You can't use any kind of surveillance against any of your employees, and pretty much all kinds of such surveillance will give you a lot of trouble in regard to GDPR, which happens to protect both the consumer, but also employees within companies.
The fact that they're doing it and can do it speaks for itself.

It's like contractual molestation for female employees and when they speak about what they had to sign: "better read the contract". Nothing wrong with either Apple or the government AT ALL.

I mean, I don't understand why Weinstein had to go to Prison, they all consented to it 🤔 Can't be wrong, right? Better read the industry.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.