Amar Bhakta, a manager at Apple, has filed a lawsuit in California alleging that the tech giant violates employees' privacy by monitoring their personal devices.
Apple requires, according to the suit, employees to use Apple devices for work but limits their use for personal purposes. This policy reportedly compels many employees to use their personal devices for work tasks, inadvertently granting Apple broad access to personal data through shared iCloud accounts.
The lawsuit claims Apple can search, monitor, and use data from employees' personal devices, including those of family members synced to the same account, Fortune reports. It also alleges that Apple conducts surveillance of employees at home offices and reserves the right to search both Apple and non-Apple devices on company premises.
"For Apple's employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. It is a prison yard," the lawsuit states. "A panopticon where employees, both on and off duty, are ever subject to Apple's all-seeing eye."
Bhakta has claimed Apple's illegally restrict employees' rights to discuss compensation, and has hindered his career progress by barring his pursuit of public speaking engagements and even insisting he remove certain details from his LinkedIn profile. The lawsuit also alleges Apple retains the right to reclaim vested stock if employees breach confidentiality agreements.
"It's disappointing that Apple, whose ethos is privacy and confidentiality, would try to monitor and censor me," Bhakta stated in a press release. "I hope this complaint causes Apple to change their approach to monitoring employees outside of work and reminds employees that they have the power to stand up too."
Apple has stated it disagrees with the claims. "Every employee has the right to discuss their wages, hours and working conditions," a spokesperson reiterated.
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