Apple has sued one of its former engineers for allegedly leaking confidential details surrounding unreleased products to the press and employees at other tech companies. Apple is seeking financial compensation along with other measures from the defendant over allegations of breaking confidentiality agreements and public labor laws (via MacRumors).
The ex-engineer in question is Andrew Aude, who joined Apple in 2016 shortly after his graduation. Per the lawsuit, Aude worked as an iOS Software Engineer whose main responsibility was to optimize battery performance, meaning that Aude had deep access and knowledge of the inner workings of the company’s various products. During five years, Aude allegedly got in touch with various journalists to leak sensitive information surrounding Apple’s future products.
Some of the journalists Aude got in touch with allegedly include high-profile press members from the likes of The Information and The Wall Street Journal, who went on to publish information about the Journal app and Apple Vision Pro before their announcement at WWDC 2023. Other leaked information that Apple is blaming Aude for include product development roadmaps and employee headcount across various departments.
Apple highlights specific examples of Aude leaking information to the press. In the case of the Journal app, Apple alleges that Aude used his company-issued iPhone to get in touch with The Wall Street Journal through the Signal app, which supports encrypted and self-deleting messaging. In April 2023, Aude exchanged over 1,400 texts in addition to phone calls with a WSJ journalist to leak comprehensive details surrounding the Journal app, with the details appearing in a report later that month.
Aude is also accused of exchanging over 10,000 texts with another journalist at The Information. Apple also alleges that Aude met with said journalist in person after traveling “across the continent” to meet them face-to-face. Apple believes that Aude went on his alleged leaking spree to deliberately harm product and feature decisions he did not personally agree with, purposely breaking his confidentiality agreement with the company in the process.
Apple further states that Aude took personal pride when the information he allegedly leaked made it to the public. The company highlights two pieces of evidence to this effect, one where Aude proclaims to his WSJ contact that he “can’t wait for chaos to break out” and “love when I get to leak to my WSJ friend.”
Apple became aware of Aude’s behavior towards the end of 2023. Aude first denied any involvement with leaking information during a confrontation interview, yet attempted to hide his tracks by permanently deleting a “significant amount of evidence from his device” during a bathroom break. Apple later terminated Aude in December 2023 after “narrow admissions limited to the information he had not been able to destroy” from his work-issued iPhone.
Apple is seeking over $25,000 in damages as a result of Aude’s alleged actions. The company is also seeking the forfeiture of Aude’s restricted stock units which were part of his compensation.
