Being an engineer at Apple has several perks, including working with high-profile tech pundits, inside knowledge of future products, industry-leading pay package, and also getting one's hands first on devices that are yet to hit the shelves.
But it comes with a huge responsibility too, which if not followed cost people job. An Apple employee got axed for exactly that, although it was not he but his daughter who made the gaffe.
YouTube vlogger Brooke Amelia Peterson was on a visit to Apple headquarters, where her father is a senior company employee (designation unknown) and worked on the iPhone X. Expectedly, she got the privilege of getting her hands on the unreleased product.
Being a social media personality, she wasted no time in giving a hands-on iPhone X experience on her YouTube channel sitting at Caffè Macs in the company' campus.
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The video went viral within no time, but it was taken down soon upon request from Apple.
However, several publications and fans had downloaded and re-posted it on various social media platforms by then.
Apple, known for its strict policies summoned the employee and handed him the pink slip for his daughter's unauthorised publication of the iPhone X video.
Overreaction from Apple?
Some people might argue that Apple's decision to fire Peterson was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, as the iPhone X is already launched and most people already know the device inside-out.
Apple has a policy that bars any employee from revealing any confidential information or device to the public or media before it is available in the market.
It is exactly why Apple never responds to any speculation on product features before the official launch.
Furthermore, it has come to light that Brooke A Peterson's iPhone X video also contained confidential notes containing source codes of unreleased products and staff-specific QR codes, and this could have been the final nail in the coffin for her father.
Following the firing of her dad from Apple, Brooke posted another video on YouTube praising him and saying how lucky she was to be his daughter. She also apologised for the mistake that cost her father's job at Apple.
She also said she respects Apple's no-tolerance policy on company-insider leaks, as it concerns staff safety, and would continue to buy Apple products.
Check YouTube Video here:
This episode is grim wakeup call for not just Apple employees, but also others working in high-profile technology companies to maintain professional ethics.
