A new report from The Information details how Apple’s policy of encouraging employees to mix personal and work iCloud accounts has allowed some former staffers to retain access to confidential company files long after leaving. Here are the details.
Report could weaken Apple’s arguments against OpenAI
Last month, Apple filed a trade secrets theft lawsuit against two former employees, OpenAI, and Jony Ive’s io Products.
In the complaint, Apple outlines several steps it takes to protect confidential information and trade secrets, including contractual, technical, physical, and procedural safeguards. These range from recurring confidentiality training and the signing of multiple agreements, to requirements that departing employees return company devices and complete offboarding interviews designed to ensure they no longer retain access to confidential materials.
Apple’s efforts to safeguard its secrets will likely be central to both its case and OpenAI’s defense. As The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel recently noted on The Vergecast, trade secret law (and lawsuits built around it) often hinge on whether a company can show that it took reasonable measures to keep the information in question confidential.
