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submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

According to the filing, Lipnik has been fired from Apple “for failing to follow Apple’s policies designed to protect its confidential information, including development devices and unreleased software and features.” The filing also accuses Lipnik of failing to report “multiple prior breaches” to Apple.

When you sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), you’d best protect the secrets. Then again, the guy who left an iPhone 4 in a bar didn’t lose his job. Wonder what the differences are between them.

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[-] [email protected] 87 points 5 days ago

Intent. One was an accident, the other is potentially criminal if I'm not wrong. I could be.

[-] [email protected] 37 points 5 days ago

I remember when the iPhone 4 leak happened because of that phone prototype that got left behind. Everyone felt really bad for the guy, and it was widely believed that it was completely by accident.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

seems incongruous to me that the NDA is that strict but the prototypes are allowed out in the wild. I guess they need real world testing somehow.

[-] [email protected] 32 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Prototypes are not allowed out in the wild anymore. There was a massive shift in policy after the iPhone 4 incident.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

It is about managing risk, you do need real world testing for many products, and it is impossible to do that without risking the public sees it (you could camouflage it like they do with cars) , but at the same time it probably isn't suitable to take an unreleased phone into a bar where the risk of losing it is higher than say a grocery store.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

It was in a rounded, 3gs-like case

[-] [email protected] 26 points 5 days ago

Breaking an NDA (allegedly) is civil, not criminal

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

Unless it's also a cfaa violation for exceeding access

[-] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I was thinking more this:

The Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996 makes it a federal crime to steal trade secrets, with penalties including up to 10 years in prison and substantial fines

[-] [email protected] 15 points 5 days ago

It would be a civil matter, not criminal.

[-] [email protected] -1 points 4 days ago

The Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996 makes it a federal crime to steal trade secrets, with penalties including up to 10 years in prison and substantial fines

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Based on the article, the youtuber and an accomplice who knew an Apple employee accessed the employee’s phone while it was unattended, so technically it wasn’t intentional and more negligence. On the other hand, Apple also claims the employee failed to report previous breaches, so maybe this was the final straw.

this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
364 points (97.6% liked)

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