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A December 2024 California lawsuit by Apple employee Amar Bhakta alleges that the company’s workplace device-management and speech policies intruded on employee privacy and restricted discussion of wages and working conditions. The complaint is not a court finding that Apple searched Bhakta’s personal data, and it does not allege that Apple spies on iPhone users generally.
What the lawsuit alleges about personal iPhones and iCloud
Bhakta worked in Apple’s advertising technology business, according to the Los Angeles Times. His complaint, filed under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), focuses on employees who use personal devices for work.
The complaint alleges that Apple requires employees using their personal devices for work to accept management software. It also says employees using personal iPhones for work may have to associate a personal iCloud account with work, and that Apple discourages work-only iCloud accounts.
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To support its privacy claims, the complaint quotes a policy saying data on an Apple-managed or Apple-owned device—including email, photos, video, and notes—may be subject to search when a personal account is used on that device. The filing also alleges that Apple’s policies reserve broad surveillance and search rights. These are allegations and policy language presented by the plaintiff; the cited materials do not establish that Apple actually searched Bhakta’s personal data.
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What the complaint says about employee speech
The lawsuit also challenges Apple speech and confidentiality policies. Bhakta alleges that they restrict employees from discussing wages and working conditions. He further alleges that he was told not to speak publicly about his work and to remove work information from LinkedIn.
Bhakta’s attorney, Jahan Sagafi of Outten & Golden, told the Los Angeles Times that California employees have a right to speak about wages and working conditions, and said Apple’s policies “create a danger of discrimination going unchallenged.” That is the plaintiff’s side of the dispute, not a court ruling.
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Apple’s response
Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock told the Los Angeles Times: “Every employee has the right to discuss their wages, hours and working conditions and this is part of our business conduct policy, which all employees are trained on annually. We strongly disagree with these claims and believe they lack merit.”
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How this case differs from Ashley Gjovik’s proceedings
Bhakta’s PAGA lawsuit is separate from former Apple employee Ashley Gjovik’s federal litigation and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filings. The cases involve different people and proceedings; facts from one are not findings in the other.
A February 27, 2025 order in Gjovik’s federal case describes her state-law claims, including allegations of retaliation and privacy-related conduct, and says the court granted in part and denied in part Apple’s motion to dismiss. That order does not resolve Bhakta’s allegations.
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A later order in Gjovik’s case recounts Apple’s evidence about its Glimmer user study: employees chose which images, if any, to upload, and Gjovik signed an informed-consent form and had not uploaded images through the app in 2021. This concerns a separate Face ID study dispute, not Bhakta’s case.
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What is—and is not—established
- Established as a filing: Bhakta brought a California PAGA lawsuit alleging workplace device-management, privacy, and employee-speech violations.
- Not established by the complaint: that a court found Apple searched Bhakta’s personal information or that Apple monitors consumer iPhones generally.
- Apple’s stated position: the company disputes the claims and says employees have the right to discuss wages, hours, and working conditions.
- Procedural status: the available cited sources do not establish the current status or outcome of Bhakta’s Santa Clara County case.
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