Ex-employee apologizes to Apple over leaks – Lawsuit withdrawn
Apple has already sued employees who leaked product details to journalists several times. One case from 2024 has now ended with a settlement – and an apology.
Apple logo: The iPhone company is trying to keep its doors shut.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch)
A former Apple employee who allegedly leaked details of several of the company's products to journalists has publicly apologized to his ex-employer. As a result, Apple has withdrawn a lawsuit filed against the man last spring. The competent court, the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, discontinued the proceedings following an out-of-court settlement between the two parties. It is not known exactly what this agreement contains, it remained secret.
Details of the journal app and Vision Pro
Andrew A. had been involved in optimizing the battery performance of iOS as a developer since 2016. This gave him insight into numerous unpublished projects at the company. Over a period of at least a decade, he is said to have repeatedly given information on Apple trade secrets to journalists, and apparently also to employees of other tech companies. The leaks included information about the Journal diary app, Vision Pro and other products and functions. In an internal investigation, Apple found over 10,000 text messages that were allegedly sent to the media, including the Wall Street Journal and The Information.
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According to screenshots from the indictment, A. is said to have been pleased when such leaks were published. "I can't wait for chaos to break out here before the Apple corporate people even notice," he wrote, among other things. Apple demanded compensation of at least 25,000 US dollars for the act. The person was a "continuing threat". It is unclear whether money flowed between the parties as part of the out-of-court settlement.
Career and relationships "ruined"
The apology appears to be at least part of this step, observers suspect. A. writes in it that he worked as a software engineer at Apple for eight years, during which time he had access to sensitive internal information and also to unreleased products and functions. "But instead of keeping this information secret, I made the mistake of passing it on to journalists who were reporting on the company. I didn't realize at the time that this was a serious and costly mistake."
He had "ruined hundreds of professional relationships" that he had built up over the years. This had also thrown his otherwise successful career off track and it was "very difficult to rebuild it". The leak was not worth it. "I sincerely apologize to my former colleagues who not only worked tirelessly on projects for Apple, but also worked hard to keep them secret. They deserve better."
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