Apple has filed a lawsuit against Andrew Aude, a former iOS Software Engineer, accusing him of leaking “information about more than a half-dozen different Apple policies and products.” The leaks included details about Apple’s then-unreleased Journal app, Apple’s “development of products within the spatial computing space,” and more.
“Mr. Aude often took and saved screenshots of his communications on his Apple-issued work iPhone to preserve them for posterity,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed in California this month and embedded below, includes several examples of Aude’s leaks over the years at Apple. He sent thousands of messages to multiple journalists at both The Information and the Wall Street Journal.
“As noted, according to data from his Apple-issued work iPhone, Mr. Aude had over 1,400 encrypted communications with a single WSJ journalist over a single four-month period,” Apple’s lawsuit says. “He also sent another journalist at The Information over 10,000 text messages from his Apple-issued work iPhone and traveled across the continent to meet with her.”
The first example:
As one example, around April 2023, Mr. Aude read an e-mail containing the final feature list for an unannounced Apple app to a WSJ journalist (aka “Homeboy”) over the phone. Mr. Aude did so even though the e-mail expressly noted its “confidential” nature and that Apple “only ha[d] one shot” to make a “first impression.”
This example, and the above screenshot showing timing details, clearly refers to a report from Aaron Tilley at The Wall Street Journal. The report was the first to reveal details about Apple’s journaling app and was published in April 2023 in the early morning.
Second:
As another example, around November 2022, Mr. Aude shared confidential details about Apple’s strategies for regulatory compliance with his interviewer at another technology company and also with a WSJ journalist. Mr. Aude knew that details about Apple’s forthcoming regulatory compliance were, in his own words, “top secret” and not for disclosure outside of Apple. Nevertheless, he disclosed them anyway.
Third:
As another example, an October 2020 screenshot on Mr. Aude’s Apple-issued work iPhone shows that he disclosed Apple’s development of products within the spatial computing space to a non-Apple employee. Mr. Aude made this disclosure even though Apple’s development efforts were confidential and not known to the public. Over the following months, Mr. Aude disclosed additional Apple confidential information—including information concerning unannounced products, and hardware information.
Four:
As another example, in August 2021 Mr. Aude corroborated a rumor about a design feature of an unreleased Apple device to a non-Apple employee. Although recognizing that the feature was “one of [Apple’s] best secret features,” Mr. Aude disclosed the information anyway.
Five:
As another example, in May 2023, Mr. Aude disclosed confidential details regarding Apple’s internal product development policies to a WSJ journalist. The journalist subsequently published an article on the same subject that month.
Six:
As another example, Mr. Aude’s saved screenshots on his Apple-issued work iPhone reveal that, around September 2023, Mr. Aude disclosed confidential details about Apple’s analysis of its product hardware characteristics to a journalist via multiple conversations. The journalist subsequently published an article on the same subject.
Seven:
Mr. Aude also shared information related to Apple’s internal staffing on a specific Apple team in response to questions from a journalist at The Information. The shared information ultimately appeared in an article published by the journalist’s colleague at The Information.
In the lawsuit, Apple says it learned of Aude’s “misconduct” in the fall of 2023 and requested a meeting with him to “discuss his improper disclosures.” During this interview, Aude allegedly said he needed to go to the bathroom, using that as an excuse to leave the room and delete evidence off his phone:
Apple learned of Mr. Aude’s misconduct in the fall of 2023. When Apple met with him to discuss his improper disclosures, Mr. Aude promptly confirmed his guilt through his actions, if not his words. At the start of his November 7, 2023 interview, Mr. Aude repeatedly denied that he had leaked any information to anyone. He also claimed that he did not have his Apple-issued work iPhone with him.
Feigning the need to visit the bathroom mid-interview, Mr. Aude then extracted his iPhone from his pocket during the break and permanently deleted significant amounts of evidence from his device. This included the Signal app, which memorialized his history of leaking information to “Homeboy” (and likely others) via encrypted communications.
Aude joined Apple in 2016 and worked as an iOS Software Engineer working on optimizing battery performance, among other things. Apple says he received multiple promotions over the tenure at the company. He has since been terminated.
Due to his work on battery performance and iOS, Apple says Aude “was privy to information regarding dozens of Apple’s most sensitive projects, including Apple’s development of systems-on-chips and iPhone products, among others.”
Even though his employment has been terminated, Apple says he “poses an ongoing threat based on his knowledge of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information.”
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