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In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

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Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#91

Post by sincerely »

Cyph0n wrote: post #64
jadedhacker wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little skeptical. The intelligence services would say something that would make you skeptical of the motivations of leakers. If they're selfishly motivated the public doesn't mind them being locked up and put into isolation and tortured in ways that don't leave a mark. The leakers that come to mind immediately are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning whom both suffered greatly for their leaks (Snowden had to leav…

Didn't Manning leak classified information that threatened the lives of foreign operatives? I never understood why Snowden and Manning are put on equal footing in that regard.

Doesn't seem like it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/bradley-mannin...

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#92

Post by bondolo »

Martin Minow liked to tell the story of the time he got a call from Steve Jobs right after Steve's return to Apple. Martin was working on Copeland which hadn't been cancelled yet.

Steve called out the blue one afternoon and said "Hi Martin, this is Steve." Martin had worked with Steve in his early days at Apple before Steve's departure. "Hi Steve." "Look, we know you've been sending emails to Henry Norr who works at MacWeek. We can't read them because they are encrypted, but you better have an explanation of why you are talking to journalists." "He is in my running group. That's it." "That's it?" "Yep, that's it." "OK, make sure it stays that way." and Steve hung up. Martin was flustered by this call so got up and left his office. In the hallway were his manager and a couple security goons just standing around. "Hey." "Hey." and he went off to the restroom. When he came back the goons were gone. It never came up again.

I miss Martin.

edit: [Spellcheck corrected "Minow" to "Minnow" and I failed to notice. You should find plenty more hits on "Martin Minow"]

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#93

Post by LoSboccacc »

greedo wrote: post #73
alexandercrohde wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we not group whistleblowing, a usually-legal heroic action of reporting immoral/illegal behavior (to the extent that you can be awarded millions of dollars by the government for whistelblowing) with leaking trivial product details?

If you think the motives of whistleblowers are as pure as the driven snow, we'll just have to agree to disagree. #2 covers their actions, but not all whistleblowers are related to Mother Teresa.

> not all whistleblowers are related to Mother Teresa

so some of them are good?

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#94

Post by djrogers »

5_minutes wrote: post #51

What I find baffling is the difference in leaks pre and post Jobs era. Perhaps management should look at themselves also why people are leaking now and weren’t before.

Nothing baffling about it - things leaked a lot when Steve Jobs was around. We all knew about the iPad before it was announced, we all knew they were making a phone, etails would leak about new MacBook Pros, etc. etc.

What we do see now that's different than it was 10 years ago are supply chain leaks. Apple has to have such a long ramp to manufacture it's first week worth of iPhones, that it's inevitable that some of the 10s of thousands of people in the supply chain will leak. Often for money, given the culture and pay scales in China...

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#95

Post by debt »

IBM wrote: post #2

Somewhat ironic that this memo got leaked but I think in this case it actually serves their purpose for it to be read by everyone (including potential employees). I think this part is key and is something I've always wondered about: >While it may seem flattering to be approached, it’s important to remember that you’re getting played. The success of these outsiders is measured by obtaining Apple’s secrets from you and…

On the contrary, we all are carrying around GPS tracking devices in our pockets that almost every modern worker in most contexts needs to have.

So if Apple or Facebook wants leaks to stop happening they need to reverse course and stop the unofficial mandate to connect the world or get a device into every person’s hands.

These things are becoming global phenomenon pervasive in nearly everyone’s lives and yet they demand a near total lack of transparency of how they operate. Seems hypocritical and unfair at best and maybe unethical or immoral at worst.

Massive organizations and businesses, people and families rely on these things so they at least should have some insight into their operation.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#96

Post by 24gttghh »

tzakrajs wrote: post #81
guelo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cupertino is a company town, their police department does what Apple tells them to.

Cupertino doesn't have its own police or fire department. Get real.

However, they have a division of the county Sheriff's department.

http://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-safety/...

I can't comment on their loyalties though...

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#97

Post by jlebrech »

erichurkman wrote: post #77
icebraining wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also commonly used in digital watermarks: each copy has an unique variation.

See also inserting zero-width characters in text that don't show when you copy and paste: https://medium.com/@umpox/be-careful-what-you-copy-invisibly...

zero width is a good idea as engineers are less likely to leak info as they livelihood is affected by them, unless they are already trying to jump ship.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#98

Post by sidlls »

jadedhacker wrote: post #37
yodon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I’ve never understood what the employee gets out of it The intelligence services have done a great deal of research into the persona of the press leaker/Wikileaks leaker (as distinct from the more traditional espionage leaker). A common trait is for the press leaker to be either highly over-qualified for their job or believe themselves to be over-qualified for their job. The belief coming out of that research is a s…

I'm a little skeptical. The intelligence services would say something that would make you skeptical of the motivations of leakers. If they're selfishly motivated the public doesn't mind them being locked up and put into isolation and tortured in ways that don't leave a mark. The leakers that come to mind immediately are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning whom both suffered greatly for their leaks (Snowden had to leav…

Ego and narcissism are perhaps the most common and strong traits in leakers and betrayers of confidence. Financial motives and motivations to avoid scandal pale in comparison. So much so that I find it laughable clearance investigations focus on the latter at all.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#99

Post by wpietri »

kec wrote: post #85
trevyn wrote: post #66

My favorite take on Apple’s culture of secrecy and how it harms everyone comes from the illustrious Bret Victor: http://worrydream.com/Apple/ In short, your personal goals and the goals of the corporation and its executives rarely align as much as you think.

I don't really understand what you're trying to get at. That just sounds like sour grapes from someone who didn't totally grok that what you do on company time belongs to the company.

The notion that "what you do on company time belongs to the company" is one possible relationship between labor and capital, but far from the only one. And even that phrasing is a little misleading, because executives often get much more latitude here; the principle in practice seems to be less about serving the collective interest of all stakeholders (that is, the company) as serving the power structure's current occupants.

Many companies are pretty flexible about what you talk about as long as giving out the information doesn't cause immediate harm. It's not unreasonable for people at much stricter companies to complain that their company is being unnecessarily strict in ways that are detrimental to the employees.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#100

Post by saagarjha »

cromwellian wrote: post #88

I think Apple obsesses too much about secrecy and attributes too much of it to its success. Except for the iPhone launch, almost nothing they've launched hasn't been leaked ahead of time, and yet, it is still the most valuable company in the world and their sales are through the roof. It seems they are still pining for that "shock-and-awe" of Steve Jobs original 2007 iPhone introduction, but don't realize that's no w…

> It has certainly had some effect on the ability to recruit AI researchers.

Well, Apple had to backtrack there and allow its researchers to publish because otherwise nobody would work there.

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