Andrew Aude worked as an iOS developer at Apple.
“Evidence deleted in the middle of an interview”
But Aude wasn’t interested in keeping quiet about unlaunched products, which Apple says include Vision Pro and the Journal app the company introduced in December. Aude stored confidential information from the employer, and was in constant contact with journalists, including The Wall Street Journal, which leaked the Journal. The company should have found out what Aude was up to in the fall of 2023, but according to Apple, he used a toilet break as an excuse to run away from a meeting about the events – instead, they believe, that the ex-employee deleted evidence on his iPhone.
“Apple learned of Aude’s misconduct in the fall of 2023. When Apple met with him to discuss the inappropriate disclosures, Aude immediately confirmed his guilt through his actions, if not his words. At the start of the interview on 7 November 2023, Aude repeatedly denied that he had leaked information to anyone. He also claimed that he did not have his Apple-issued work iPhone with him. Aude declared a need to visit the restroom in the middle of the interview, then retrieved his iPhone from his pocket during the break, permanently erasing significant amounts of evidence. This included the Signal app, which stored his history of leaking information to ‘Homeboy’ (and likely others) via encrypted communications,” Apple said in the lawsuit.
Aude otherwise did a good job at Apple. Since starting in 2016, he has been promoted a number of times, working on improving battery life and performance, among other things. Aude was fired, but Apple still believes Aude is a “threat based on his knowledge of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information.”
