[HN Gopher] Apple making some employees wear body cams in respon...
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Apple making some employees wear body cams in response to leaks
Author : freedomben
Score : 155 points
Date : 2021-06-28 19:37 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.frontpagetech.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.frontpagetech.com)
| underseacables wrote:
| Ah The Circle, I see
| henvic wrote:
| Coming up next: body cams leak footage of upcoming Apple product.
|
| No, I don't think so...
| Steko wrote:
| Apple should make a (non-glasses at first) body cam wearable that
| is used for life streaming and personal security.
| heavyset_go wrote:
| Consistent with Apple's implementation of other surveillance
| measures[1], this is clearly for the benefit and security of
| users and employees who don't know any better.
|
| [1] https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/what-happened-to-my-mac-
| app...
| incrudible wrote:
| The writing on this website makes me believe the transition
| depicted in the film Idiocracy is well underway.
| spoonjim wrote:
| What's really funny is that this escalating response from Apple
| in response to leaks comes directly as the relevance of Apple
| leaks has gone down. Nobody gives a fuck what the next iPhone is
| going to look like. Apple events are no longer these mystical
| ripples in spacetime because 1) Steve Jobs is dead and 2) Apple
| is not cool anymore 3) everyone knows the next iPhone will be a
| rounded rectangle with a screen on one side. Apple thinks that
| they will reclaim their cool by controlling leaks but nobody is
| going to get excited about Tim Cook pulling the next iPhone out
| of his pocket. Apple's engineering is still great, but they are
| no longer an entertainment event.
| snowwrestler wrote:
| People publish Apple leaks for one reason: they attract an
| audience. As an example, I give this post which is currently
| sitting at #1 on HN.
| ketamine__ wrote:
| If they release a car it will start again...
| paulpauper wrote:
| new iphone: bigger screen and more camera lenses
|
| Apple doesn't need to be cool anymore. they just need to keep
| selling a crapload of phones every year and app store
| downloads, which they seem to have no problem doing. Neither
| Google nor Microsoft are cool yet are still hugely successful
| with surging share prices.
| spoonjim wrote:
| Yes, a major reason Apple is not cool anymore is that they
| are so successful. It is really very rare for the top vendor
| to be the cool one, because "cool" almost definitionally
| means something that not everyone is. Apple did it for awhile
| though.
| pmoriarty wrote:
| It completely boggles my mind that anyone _ever_ cared what the
| next iPhone will be like.
| spoonjim wrote:
| Steve Jobs had star power to match anyone -- Barack Obama,
| Bob Dylan, whatever comparison you want to make.
|
| It was a unique condition that one person was both the
| greatest tech marketer and greatest tech product manager of
| all time.
| tablespoon wrote:
| > It was a unique condition that one person was both the
| greatest tech marketer and greatest tech product manager of
| all time.
|
| Also one of the greatest assholes of all time. You can't do
| him justice if you leave that achievement out.
| zsmi wrote:
| I don't think it takes too much imagination to understand why
| iPhone case manufactures would be interested in what the next
| iPhone will be like.
| speedgoose wrote:
| They usually do have the shape of the phone before the
| release. That's how you know that the next iPhone will have
| the shape of a smartphone.
| paulpauper wrote:
| yeah it's not going to be triangle shaped
| sosborn wrote:
| https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid
| paxys wrote:
| The usual kinds of leaks do not help case manufacturers.
| You need very detailed schematics or the device itself to
| be able to make accessories for it. A blurry photo
| definitely won't do.
| ibero wrote:
| there is easily a billion dollar plus market of accessories
| that resolves entirely on knowing what the next iPhone will
| be like.
| paulpauper wrote:
| Things like the location of the ports and the size of the
| camera
| alasdair_ wrote:
| >It completely boggles my mind that anyone ever cared what
| the next iPhone will be like.
|
| I mean, people had freaking launch parties for Windows 95.
|
| Now I'm actively trying to work out ways not to install
| windows 11.
| andrekandre wrote:
| even windows 7 also had "launch parties"...
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cX4t5-YpHQ
| throwaway492338 wrote:
| Turn off TPM in your BIOS
| Dah00n wrote:
| The cut-off is 8th gen intel or 2nd gen Ryzen. TPM or
| not.
| judge2020 wrote:
| It does sound like TPM is required to be enabled even for
| these processors: https://www.microsoft.com/en-
| us/windows/windows-11-specifica...
| RicoElectrico wrote:
| Back in the old days, every non-S iPhone blew people's minds,
| because it made the old generation look like shit in
| comparison ;)
|
| I think iPhone 4 had the greatest differential impact, on its
| release the IPS Retina was something unreal.
| rwc wrote:
| Ironically enough the iPhone 4 was also the first iPhone to
| leak prior to launch.
| afavour wrote:
| It's a premium device that people like to show off. Hardly
| rare in that regard, there are leaks of new cars, watches,
| etc
| CydeWeys wrote:
| I don't think it's the iPhone they're primarily worrying about,
| it's their first foray into a new field. So that could be the
| first Apple automobile or the first Apple AR/VR device. _That_
| might matter a lot if it gets leaked way ahead of time.
| Animats wrote:
| _Relevance of Apple leaks has gone down. Nobody gives a fuck
| what the next iPhone is going to look like._
|
| Right. What number are they on now, anyway?
| nojito wrote:
| This is because they have largely been successful in stamping
| down leaks for a while now
|
| The only leaks they have yet to stop is the hardware related
| ones.
|
| Great example was during WWDC almost no software changes were
| leaked before hand.
| mnd999 wrote:
| Stating the obvious, but their software is (mostly) made in
| house; the hardware is outsourced to 3rd parties. I suspect
| the 3rd parties are the problem.
| nefasti wrote:
| That's some cyberpunk level monitoring
| Hamuko wrote:
| Missing the brain implant.
| smoldesu wrote:
| Only a matter of time until they start getting Johnny
| Mnemonic'd out there.
| avalys wrote:
| This article is probably bullshit. I mean, it might be true that
| Apple is requiring some employees to wear a body camera in some
| circumstances, but none of the evidence cited even indicates that
| this is directly in response to leaks.
|
| It doesn't even make much sense. Unless they're hoping to catch
| body camera evidence of an employee using a phone to snap a
| picture of a prototype, what sort of leak would this possibly
| prevent? And really, would it be that hard to "accidentally"
| obscure the body camera for the 5 seconds it takes to snap such a
| photo anyway?
|
| It certainly won't stop you from calling, texting, or meeting a
| journalist in your free time to leak whatever information you
| want.
|
| There's probably much less to the story than this sensationalist
| headline suggests.
| babypuncher wrote:
| I've never heard of this website before, but perusing some of
| their other articles does not inspire much confidence in the
| quality of their journalism.
| manigandham wrote:
| Frontpagetech.com was created by Jon Prosser, one of the
| well-known Apple leakers: https://twitter.com/jon_prosser
| Black101 wrote:
| > And really, would it be that hard to "accidentally" obscure
| the body camera for the 5 seconds it takes to snap such a photo
| anyway?
|
| Maybe the camera is a decoy and really, they just want to know
| who is around the computer at the time of the leak
| (location/gps/wifi/etc).
| dave_aiello wrote:
| I'm surprised that the article isn't dated April 1.
| eldelshell wrote:
| It's stupid. Let's stop leaks by creating another, centralized
| leak source... Leaks now in 4K!
| trhway wrote:
| >an employee using a phone to snap a picture of a prototype
|
| it may as well be in the areas of "no portable electronic
| devices".
|
| About rationality of the Apple's security - we're talking about
| people caught bribing Santa Clara sheriff ...
| ballenf wrote:
| I thought it was pretty well established that the Santa Clara
| story was one of a rogue sheriff shaking down Apple for some
| free iPads. In return apple would get their security staff
| approvals greenlit.
| trhway wrote:
| exactly. Head of security at a transnational not being able
| to deal with a rogue sheriff in a very law abiding
| country/state/county and getting caught with pants down
| instead - it is hard to be more inept than that.
| [deleted]
| herbst wrote:
| Whatever the reason is that they make them wear bodycams. I mean
| you can't even make this shit up.
| crazygringo wrote:
| First of all... if this story comes from a leak, how do we even
| know it's real? _Tons_ if not most of Apple "leaks" turn out to
| be false. Also, how do we know this is in order to prevent leaks,
| as opposed to other security concerns (like accessing PII).
|
| Second, even if true, it's impossible to judge this without
| knowing who "some" employees are. I would expect that highly paid
| Apple engineers aren't all going to be wearing them all day at
| the office -- that would make hiring a bit difficult...
|
| But if there are certain restricted-access design rooms that they
| require you to wear one while inside? Or a policy for third-party
| contractors where Apple doesn't have control over the premises
| and can't install security cameras? I dunno, but I can imagine a
| few scenarios where this might not be obviously unreasonable.
| jmull wrote:
| How would body cameras prevent leaks? (More than, say, any other
| kind of camera?)
|
| You could try to have potential leaker's wear them and have them
| on 24/7 for a period of time... and they could simply
| text/write/message/email outside the view of the camera and the
| capability of the mic. Not to mention they are going to need to
| let people use the facilities or have other personal moments with
| the camera off, so the purpose is defeated.
|
| A guard could wear one and it would help with surveillance but it
| doesn't need to be a body cam, just a regular surveillance
| camera.
|
| It seems a lot more useful in the normal sense, where, e.g.,
| campus guards would be required to wear and use them so that when
| there are disputes about what happened in a particular incident,
| the footage can clarify.
| balozi wrote:
| Maybe all employees should wear police-grade body cams,
| especially public employees. Come think of it kids and teachers
| in school should wear body cams too. Maybe all citizens should
| get their own body cams as well.
| barnaclejive wrote:
| I'm surprised there are so many comments on this obvious click
| bait.
|
| > EXCLUSIVE:
|
| > Welp. You read the title. You heard it here first. For the
| first time ever reported
|
| > Timmy Cook's desk
| LatteLazy wrote:
| The cynic in me assumed "police grade" means no camera or mic, no
| memory and no battery...
| heavyset_go wrote:
| Can be turned on or off at the wearer's convenience, has a
| delete button, etc.
| fridif wrote:
| "POLICE GRADE" aka literally just Go Pros...
|
| Will we have to fight for a law that says we will not be
| retaliated against if we don't want to wear body cams at work?
| [deleted]
| jnwatson wrote:
| "Police grade" body cams imply the system to dock, charge,
| store video, and allow indexing and searching.
| jdavis703 wrote:
| Would such a law exempt LEOs? Or are we saying that having
| video documentation of _any_ worker is not worth the privacy
| loss?
| fridif wrote:
| Would be an interesting thing for sure. Laws are always so
| messy and full of carve outs and loopholes. Apple would
| probably start classifying their techs as LEOs to still force
| them to wear it ;)
| harblfarbl wrote:
| Now all Apple needs is to actually be making products that are a
| surprise to anyone, anymore.
| newsbinator wrote:
| I partly suspect they're going to extremes now because they're
| preparing to release products that are a surprise.
|
| https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple-lawyers-leakers-380606...
| anothernewdude wrote:
| I'd be surprised if they launched a product that indicated
| they cared about customers. Like something repairable, or
| that had a headphone jack.
| johnklos wrote:
| What a stupid title. "Police grade"? Police turn off their
| cameras whenever they want, like right before they're about to do
| illegal shit.
| xvector wrote:
| It would be hilarious if a vulnerability caused footage from the
| body cams to leak.
| ectopod wrote:
| The health secretary in the UK has just resigned after footage
| was leaked of him kissing his lover in his office. Remarkably,
| this government minister didn't know he was being spied on in
| his own office by facilities management. So, yes, surveillance
| can spectacularly backfire.
| CalChris wrote:
| Or to be used against Apple in court.
| kitsune_ wrote:
| The 1984 ad feels a bit ironic in this context.
| gameswithgo wrote:
| apple has been consistently ironic about that for decades.
| deciding what software you can install on your own computer,
| not letting you repair it, paying for exclusive access to
| hardware locking out competition (screens, 5nm)
| fanatic2pope wrote:
| Or Tim Cook's proclamation that privacy is a human right.
| Awkward!
| paxys wrote:
| That ship sailed when they decided we had to stay within their
| walled garden for our own safety.
| tablespoon wrote:
| Bring back the necktie.
| oh_sigh wrote:
| Absolutely zero in the article shows that these bodycams are to
| prevent leaks. Where is the author getting this from?
| smoldesu wrote:
| What do you think they're intended for? Preventing the workers
| from slacking off?
| You-Are-Right wrote:
| This is fascism. Apple Logo = Hakenkreuz.
| paxys wrote:
| If they are making campus security guards wear body cameras then
| it is somewhat understandable. Anyone else..just no.
|
| Also, don't all their leaks happen from their Chinese suppliers
| anyways?
| askafriend wrote:
| More accurate, less sensationalized title: "Apple requiring a
| select few employees to wear body cameras in order to protect
| hardware trade secrets".
| pksebben wrote:
| That sounds more spinny than the original - phrases like
| "select few" and "hardware trade secrets" seem to add valuation
| to an otherwise fairly factual title.
|
| Note, when I read this, the current title was: "Apple making
| some employees wear body cams in response to leaks"
| askafriend wrote:
| The original article title is: "Apple Making Employees Wear
| Police-Grade Body Cams in Response to Leaks"
|
| In reality:
|
| * It's a few groups who handle hardware, it's not like the
| entire engineering team is forced to walk around with body
| cameras or face execution.
|
| * "Police Grade" means nothing - it's an alarming phrased
| used for no reason.
|
| * "In response to leaks" while fine, makes light of the
| situation - in reality its concerning hardware designs of one
| of the most complex hardware operation in the world.
| pksebben wrote:
| totally fair. "Police Grade" in this context is ragebait,
| pure and simple.
| dane-pgp wrote:
| "Police Grade" _should_ mean that it 's designed to
| withstand situations where the wearer is interacting with
| physically abusive and/or vomiting people, but if that's
| part of Apple's design requirements then perhaps there
| are bigger problems than just the cameras.
| xnyan wrote:
| I've evaluated Axon body cameras for compliance to
| various standards and and the police grade is less vomit
| resistance (they are in fact durable cameras, but there
| are many consumer brands that offer similar durability)
| and more provable digital chain of custody for when you
| are going to use the resulting video in court. Also, very
| simple start/stop operation and extremely clear
| indication that it's on/off.
| spoonjim wrote:
| This is absolutely as weird as the original title. These are
| CIA style measures.
| least wrote:
| The Intelligence community wouldn't ever rely on something
| like strapping body cameras on to people to ensure they're
| not leaking information. There's a lot of processes involved
| to prevent untrustworthy people from ever entering inside a
| SCIF like your clearance (which is a long and expensive
| process), then specific onboarding for the sensitive area
| you're going to be entering, then restricted access to
| information pertinent to whatever your shop's mission is and
| also just simply restricting access to sensitive information
| to the confines of the SCIF. No cell phones. No thumb drives.
| No laptops. Extremely restricted means of moving sensitive
| data between locations.
|
| If Apple has information they consider to be highly
| sensitive, they actually should take "CIA style measures" and
| not this nonsense.
| [deleted]
| askafriend wrote:
| Do you think Coca Cola protects their formula with anything
| less?
|
| We're talking about Apple - a 2 trillion dollar operation
| that operates in hundreds of countries.
| spockz wrote:
| While we are on this. How _does_ Coca Cola protect their
| recipe? The products is "brewed" all over the world in many
| facilities. How do you keep that a secret when there are
| machines to configure and all this ingredient deliveries?
| jaywalk wrote:
| Compartmentalization. Company A produces mix containing
| ingredients 1, 3 and 5. Company B produces mix containing
| ingredients 2, 4 and 6. Only a handful of people at Coca-
| Cola even know the details of what companies A and B
| produce, and everyone below just knows "we combine the
| two mixes we receive"
| vel0city wrote:
| Also, good lawyers + good contracts. Its way more
| profitable for those companies to be quiet about what
| their mix is than risk the wrath of a $233B beverage
| company.
| ipaddr wrote:
| The formula keeps changing over time. Pre 1906 it had
| cocaine in it.
|
| Here is the recipe.
|
| Extract of coca leaves, caffeine, plenty of sugar (it
| specifies 30 unidentified units thought to be pounds), lime
| juice, vanilla and caramel make a syrup.
|
| Into that syrup, the all-important 7x flavourings are
| added: alcohol and six oils - orange, lemon, nutmeg,
| coriander, neroli and cinnamon
|
| Knowing this won't help you beat coke. It might have 100
| years ago but how coke tastes isn't as important as the
| leases they hold in key retail spaces.
| bredren wrote:
| I don't think so.
|
| At some Intel Jones Farm lab entrances where chip design was
| taking place back in 1997, there was buzz-in, camera over
| entrance door and badge check.
|
| That was on top of entry and exit bag search and badge check.
|
| Tech is more mobile and the stakes are much higher at Apple
| due to the speed of information transfer and action.
|
| So, nothing to see here.
|
| This site is just mad Apple is clamping down on their sources
| to create content and build advertising around.
| gbolcer wrote:
| I saw this movie. The Circle.
| alfalfasprout wrote:
| Honestly this obsession with minimizing leaks is pretty stupid.
| At this point, nobody is that wowed by new apple launches
| anyways.
| sosborn wrote:
| The concern about leaks isn't about the general population
| knowing what's in the works. It's about the competition.
| netr0ute wrote:
| Hot Take: There should be no secrecy at all (FOSH) and
| instead let companies create real competition.
| tenfourwookie wrote:
| Apple has become 1984. Big Brother has arrived. Apple has
| forgotten which side it was on when it made that commercial.
| systemvoltage wrote:
| I have some bad news. All corporations are authoritarian.
| Angostura wrote:
| If me and my mate incorporate, does someone come along and
| implant an authoritarisation chip in me or something.
| Dah00n wrote:
| Yes, you sign up for a chip implant on page 5.
| [deleted]
| antattack wrote:
| Looking forward to Apple leaks filmed using body cams.
| ping_pong wrote:
| The funny thing is that someone could openly start wearing a
| bodycam for themselves and record everything for leaks, and no
| one would know that it wasn't authorized.
| efficax wrote:
| it would be amusing to me if this is not in fact true but was a
| plan given to a specific employee suspected of being a leaker,
| waiting for him to leak it as proof.
| genericone wrote:
| Wouldn't be the most secretive thing apple has done. I think
| some internal groups are given red herring designs with the
| actual key material embedded into it, but depending on which
| red herrings go out they knew where the leaks came from.
|
| And following from that, they know who gets to be fired.
| jsnell wrote:
| Isn't this obviously a joke? Just how would body cams help with
| leaks?
|
| The concept of police body cams is that there's a discrete event
| at a specific time that they want to investigate, for example an
| arrest. You cannot do that with leaks. If the iPhone Next leaks,
| just what are they going to do? Scan through every minute of body
| cam footage over months? And look for what?
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