A former Apple contractor, Thomas le Bonniec, has sent a letter to all European data protection regulators, stating that “it is worrying that the tech giant and iPhone manufacturer keeps ignoring and violating fundamental rights and continues its massive collection of data”.
“I am extremely concerned that big tech companies are wiretapping entire populations despite European citizens being told that the European Union (EU) has one of the strongest data protection laws in the world. Passing a law is not good enough: it needs to be enforced upon privacy offenders.”
“The recordings are not limited to the users of Apple devices, but also involve relatives, children, friends, colleagues and whoever could be recorded by the device. The system recorded everything: names, addresses, messages, searches, arguments, background noises, films, and conversations. I heard people talking about their cancer, referring to dead relatives, religion, sexuality, pornography, politics, school, relationships, or drugs with no intention to activate Siri whatsoever,” he said.
“These practices are clearly at odds with the company’s ‘privacy-driven’ policies and should be urgently investigated by data protection authorities and privacy watchdogs. With the current statement, I want to bring this issue to your attention, and also offer my cooperation to provide any element substantiating these facts. Although this case has already gone public, Apple has not been subjected to any kind of investigation to the best of my knowledge,” Bonniec maintained.
Le Bonniec, 25, worked with Apple as a subcontractor and used to transcribe users’ requests in English and French. He quit the job in the summer of 2019 because he didn’t want to be part of the unethical practices. He argues that the “company operates on a moral and legal grey area and they have been doing this for years”.
