According to pulsestacks on March 29, Apple has recently filed a lawsuit in a California court against former employee Andrew Aude. The lawsuit accuses him of disclosing sensitive information to the media and employees of other tech companies, which violates the company's confidentiality agreement and labor laws. Apple is seeking compensation of at least $25,000 (approximately 181,000 RMB at the current exchange rate).
After graduating from college in 2016, Ode joined Apple shortly thereafter as an iOS software engineer, responsible for optimizing battery-related tasks. In his five years at Apple, he gained access to sensitive information on dozens of the company's projects.
During his tenure at Apple, Ode, using his work iPhone provided by the company, leaked numerous pieces of information to the media, including details about the "Notes" app, Vision Pro headset, product development policies, compliance strategies, and employee headcounts.
Apple stated in the lawsuit that in April 2023, Ode disclosed details about the "Notes" app to The Wall Street Journal, following which Aaron Tilley of The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Apple Plans to Launch iPhone Journaling App, Expanding Health Offerings."
Ode used the encrypted messaging app Signal to send "over 1,400" messages to the same journalist, referring to the journalist as "Homeboy."
Apple also accuses him of sending "over 10,000 messages" to another reporter at The Information website.
Apple is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, with the amount to be determined at trial, and is also pursuing other legal remedies.
