Ironic, right?
Before official releases and presentations, there’s always a leak or two that provides tiny bits of insider information. Some of this information is completely true sometimes. However, it can also be misleading, which is why it should always be taken with a grain of salt. However, Apple is genuinely concerned about leaked information, which is why it recently issued an internal memo threatening legal action on its employees. Apparently, Apple was quite the busy bee last year, as it caught 29 leakers.
The company actually had twelve of them arrested, which sounds pretty serious if you ask me. The punchline is that we got all of this information from a leaked document.
Where are the leaks coming from?
Depending on the nature of the information, leaks can come from contractors, suppliers, or direct employees. Apple cautions its employees on reporters that might try to befriend them for information. Apparently, Apple will not only fire an individual caught leaking. They will also pursue legal action and go out of their way to disrupt future employment opportunities. While this might seem a bit far-fetched, it’s worth noting that the company has a great deal of influence. You can have a look at a part of the rather scary memo below:
“Leakers do not simply lose their jobs at Apple. In some cases, they face jail time and massive fines for network intrusion and theft of trade secrets both classified as federal crimes. […] Everyone comes to Apple to do the best work of their lives — work that matters and contributes to what all 135,000 people in this company are doing together. The best way to honor those contributions is by not leaking.”
Other tech giants such as Google and Facebook face leaks multiple times per year. Whether it’s really worth it to disclose information in advance, we don’t really know. However, the practice is not likely to stop anytime soon.
