Apple hit with lawsuit over ominous 'All-Seeing Eye' device monitoring employees

A former Apple employee has sued the company over alleged labor violations that accuse Apple of suppressing employee speech, and invading employee privacy via conducting surveilling on employees through personal iCloud accounts.

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According to a new report from Semafor, the new lawsuit that was filed last Sunday in a California state court names the former Apple employee Amar Bhakta, who worked at Apple since 2020. According to Bhakta's suit, Apple used its internal policies to harm its employment prospects by preventing Apple employees from adequately describing their jobs, accomplishments while at Apple, and professional growth on job-search-based websites such as LinkedIn. Bhakta claims these policies surrounding job discussion have hindered his chances of future job prospects.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the Apple devices Apple employees are required to use "collect and use the valuable personal data" of employees during non-work periods. More specifically, the lawsuit states Apple employees have to agree to physical, video, and electronic surveillance by Apple and that Apple is within its rights to search any Apple or non-Apple device while an employee is on company premises. According to Bhakta's lawsuit, Apple employees are subject to "Apple's all-seeing eye" while both at work and at home.

The lawsuit states the company is able to do this through tools such as iCloud and that when Bhakta started working at the company, he was given the option between his personal iPhone and a company-issued iPhone. After selecting his personal iPhone, Apple installed an eSIM and VPN on Bhakta's device, and according to the lawsuit, he was forced to use his personal iCloud account to collaborate with colleagues.