According to The Courier Mail, four male members at Carindale Apple Store in Brisbane have just been fired for stealing and rating female customers’ iPhone photos on a scale of one to ten. Some staff members also took explicit photos of their female colleagues’ bodies without their knowledge and then shared these images with other colleagues as part of a photo-sharing ring.
These issues came to light after a Carindale staff member caught one colleague searching through a customer’s phone in the repair room. Following the reveal, hundreds of photos were lifted from female customers’ and colleagues’ phones, and police still expect to find more.
One Apple staff member called the act “disgusting” and admitted they were worried it was also occurring at other branches.
Trevor Long, expert and technology commentator said the scandal was a huge breach of privacy.
“The taking photos of people, whether employees or customers with mobile phones, is one thing, and that could be happening anywhere,” he said. “If they’re looking at photos on your phone or even taking copies of those, that is a breach of privacy. You’re handing your phone for them to fix it or repair it. You don’t expect that to be happening.
I would be very cautious about what you put on that phone wherever you hand it over to, just in the same way you are careful how much cash is in your car when you go to a car wash,” he added.
Apple has not yet informed customers of the breach, but they have confirmed the Carindale store is currently under police investigation.
“Apple believes in treating everyone equally and with respect, and we do not tolerate behaviour that goes against our values,” Apple said in a statement. “We are investigating a violation of Apple’s business conduct policy at our store in Carindale, where several employees have already been terminated as a result of our findings.”
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