Britain’s information watchdog is investigating claims that Apple was able to access personal information on workers’ phones after a privacy complaint was lodged by a whistleblower.
Ashley Gjøvik, a former senior Apple engineer, has filed a 54-page privacy complaint against the iPhone maker alleging unlawful data collection and invasion of employee privacy over “years and multiple countries”.
In the filing, which has been lodged with the UK Data Protection Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and its counterpart in Brussels, Ms Gjøvik claimed that she publicly expressed concerns about Apple “pressuring its employees to participate in invasive data collection procedures, including scans of ears/ear canals”.
She also accused the company of using an app on employees’ iPhones that “automatically took photos/videos whenever it ‘thought it saw a face’”.
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In the filing Ms Gjøvik said: “I respectfully request that you investigate the matters I raised and open a larger investigation into these topics within Apple’s corporate offices globally.”
The complaint was also submitted to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland and London-based Big Brother Watch, the privacy campaigning organisation.
An ICO spokesman said: “We are aware of this matter and we will assess the information provided.”
Ms Gjøvik was fired by Apple last September for allegedly violating the company’s rules against leaking confidential information.
She claimed to have begun raising concerns about...
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