This is a very good question and one many people have. They have pretty severe in-house rules, I'll bet, including clauses suggesting sacking and suing into non-existence. A few things do leak out from time to time, but their ability to keep a lid on most things is nothing short of amazing.
A few photos and some info have come out about some things only to be followed by Apple legal threatening action if they aren't removed. A case recently involving a few rumor sites was rather interesting and a story for others to relate. One site no longer exists, but supposedly there was also money exchanged. One Apple's own homepage blurped the news prematurely, and Steve made a joke about that one (probably fired the department head).
If Apple were as aggressive about its quality control and support as it is about not-yet-released products, they would dominate the computer world. Sad.
I wonder about the woman in Taiwan or China who presses the case or mounts a GPS chip. Has she signed secrecy agreements? Does she know what she's even making?
one of my close friends was working on the posters for the original imac. he had to do a press-check for the posters at the print shop. he shows up at the print shop and all the windows are blacked out from inside. all the "unnecessary" employees are not allowed inside and there are armed guards at the door.
they take their privacy very seriously. and everyone who works with them knows it.
When so many people are potentially involved in a product so desireable and so worth talking about, what does Apple do to ensure product secrecy?
It's called an Non Discloser Agreement, and failure to comply will result in you, your kids, grandkids and great grandkids, to never be able to work in the tech industry again.
Actually... they use information management software.
The basic way it works... it feeds in HR data, several project management systems (IT governance software) and links together who knows what, what they are working on, and who they work with.
It acts like a very basic relational database. This generates a list of crucial bottlenecks and the list of people with the most exposure. They in turn are fed snippets of information (about 2/3 of it is bogus) which is based on R&D, new ideas, and small offshoot projects.
Under normal circumstances these people are the first to know when a spec, package, or requirement changes. (this is part of software, service, and hardware management)
e.g. When marketing decides (in concert with engineering) that the next Mac book will need to feature a better graphics card and they are bidding out 2 competing suppliers.. that info is plugged into the management interface and is then provided to those people (who are of course on NDA's etc and used to the 'need to know' system). By logging each small bit of info that is passed out, they can see clearly the levels of first hand knowledge. Then anyone linked to that person is 'second hand' etc.
When leaks occur, they trace to the source by reverse engineering who was seeded the info. Because not all the info is legit.. any would be leek generators risk exposing who had the 'first hand' info. This is because they may be the only person who as seeded with the phony or legit knowledge. Just about ALL company info that is passed out goes through this simple system. (just tracking who is told what... even about mundane things)
It's a very basic, easy, and workable solution. This has been used for about 7 years now.
The real 'magic' is when multiple rumors surface (for example.. just look at the daily crawl here on AI....) they simply flag the internal data entries for the corresponding product/service changes.. and after a short time.. they can see where.. what dept.. or what division it came from.. and with a bit more sleuthing... down the to exact person who had first hand knowledge. That's is why the few people who actually know stuff are conditioned to NOT share it..
I know of at least 2 other companies (one big name in telco and one in consumer electronics) which use almost the exact same system. They are also 'fortresses' of info.
This means that the normal ‘ripples’ of rumors are all well planned, and intentional. They are executed as triangulation to figure out who is the internal source.
I can point to 2 close friends (one of which works for Apple’s educational division) who have watched this system work flawlessly. People have been walked out of the building with no prior warning. If you read a bunch of ex-apple employee blogs you’ll hear mention of similar things.
one of my close friends was working on the posters for the original imac. he had to do a press-check for the posters at the print shop. he shows up at the print shop and all the windows are blacked out from inside. all the "unnecessary" employees are not allowed inside and there are armed guards at the door.
they take their privacy very seriously. and everyone who works with them knows it.
Good for them. Actually, I'm surprised they haven't purchased their own printing press for top-secret printed items.
It's called an Non Discloser Agreement, and failure to comply will result in you, your kids, grandkids and great grandkids, to never be able to work in the tech industry again.
Plus chemical castration, public floggings and a giant raspberry from Teh Steve.
Actually... they use information management software.
The basic way it works... it feeds in HR data, several project management systems (IT governance software) and links together who knows what, what they are working on, and who they work with.
It acts like a very basic relational database. This generates a list of crucial bottlenecks and the list of people with the most exposure. They in turn are fed snippets of information (about 2/3 of it is bogus) which is based on R&D, new ideas, and small offshoot projects.
Under normal circumstances these people are the first to know when a spec, package, or requirement changes. (this is part of software, service, and hardware management)
e.g. When marketing decides (in concert with engineering) that the next Mac book will need to feature a better graphics card and they are bidding out 2 competing suppliers.. that info is plugged into the management interface and is then provided to those people (who are of course on NDA's etc and used to the 'need to know' system). By logging each small bit of info that is passed out, they can see clearly the levels of first hand knowledge. Then anyone linked to that person is 'second hand' etc.
When leaks occur, they trace to the source by reverse engineering who was seeded the info. Because not all the info is legit.. any would be leek generators risk exposing who had the 'first hand' info. This is because they may be the only person who as seeded with the phony or legit knowledge. Just about ALL company info that is passed out goes through this simple system. (just tracking who is told what... even about mundane things)
It's a very basic, easy, and workable solution. This has been used for about 7 years now.
The real 'magic' is when multiple rumors surface (for example.. just look at the daily crawl here on AI....) they simply flag the internal data entries for the corresponding product/service changes.. and after a short time.. they can see where.. what dept.. or what division it came from.. and with a bit more sleuthing... down the to exact person who had first hand knowledge. That's is why the few people who actually know stuff are conditioned to NOT share it..
I know of at least 2 other companies (one big name in telco and one in consumer electronics) which use almost the exact same system. They are also 'fortresses' of info.
This means that the normal ?ripples? of rumors are all well planned, and intentional. They are executed as triangulation to figure out who is the internal source.
I can point to 2 close friends (one of which works for Apple?s educational division) who have watched this system work flawlessly. People have been walked out of the building with no prior warning. If you read a bunch of ex-apple employee blogs you?ll hear mention of similar things.
Now that you've revealed all, it will be quite easy to triangulate your position in the company... start packing now.
But seriously, this is some great insider info worthy of this web site's name.
Comments
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This is a very good question and one many people have. They have pretty severe in-house rules, I'll bet, including clauses suggesting sacking and suing into non-existence. A few things do leak out from time to time, but their ability to keep a lid on most things is nothing short of amazing.
A few photos and some info have come out about some things only to be followed by Apple legal threatening action if they aren't removed. A case recently involving a few rumor sites was rather interesting and a story for others to relate. One site no longer exists, but supposedly there was also money exchanged. One Apple's own homepage blurped the news prematurely, and Steve made a joke about that one (probably fired the department head).
If Apple were as aggressive about its quality control and support as it is about not-yet-released products, they would dominate the computer world. Sad.
they take their privacy very seriously. and everyone who works with them knows it.
When so many people are potentially involved in a product so desireable and so worth talking about, what does Apple do to ensure product secrecy?
It's called an Non Discloser Agreement, and failure to comply will result in you, your kids, grandkids and great grandkids, to never be able to work in the tech industry again.
there must be a FCC stipulation for competitive issues ??
The basic way it works... it feeds in HR data, several project management systems (IT governance software) and links together who knows what, what they are working on, and who they work with.
It acts like a very basic relational database. This generates a list of crucial bottlenecks and the list of people with the most exposure. They in turn are fed snippets of information (about 2/3 of it is bogus) which is based on R&D, new ideas, and small offshoot projects.
Under normal circumstances these people are the first to know when a spec, package, or requirement changes. (this is part of software, service, and hardware management)
e.g. When marketing decides (in concert with engineering) that the next Mac book will need to feature a better graphics card and they are bidding out 2 competing suppliers.. that info is plugged into the management interface and is then provided to those people (who are of course on NDA's etc and used to the 'need to know' system). By logging each small bit of info that is passed out, they can see clearly the levels of first hand knowledge. Then anyone linked to that person is 'second hand' etc.
When leaks occur, they trace to the source by reverse engineering who was seeded the info. Because not all the info is legit.. any would be leek generators risk exposing who had the 'first hand' info. This is because they may be the only person who as seeded with the phony or legit knowledge. Just about ALL company info that is passed out goes through this simple system. (just tracking who is told what... even about mundane things)
It's a very basic, easy, and workable solution. This has been used for about 7 years now.
The real 'magic' is when multiple rumors surface (for example.. just look at the daily crawl here on AI....) they simply flag the internal data entries for the corresponding product/service changes.. and after a short time.. they can see where.. what dept.. or what division it came from.. and with a bit more sleuthing... down the to exact person who had first hand knowledge. That's is why the few people who actually know stuff are conditioned to NOT share it..
I know of at least 2 other companies (one big name in telco and one in consumer electronics) which use almost the exact same system. They are also 'fortresses' of info.
This means that the normal ‘ripples’ of rumors are all well planned, and intentional. They are executed as triangulation to figure out who is the internal source.
I can point to 2 close friends (one of which works for Apple’s educational division) who have watched this system work flawlessly. People have been walked out of the building with no prior warning. If you read a bunch of ex-apple employee blogs you’ll hear mention of similar things.
one of my close friends was working on the posters for the original imac. he had to do a press-check for the posters at the print shop. he shows up at the print shop and all the windows are blacked out from inside. all the "unnecessary" employees are not allowed inside and there are armed guards at the door.
they take their privacy very seriously. and everyone who works with them knows it.
Good for them. Actually, I'm surprised they haven't purchased their own printing press for top-secret printed items.
It's called an Non Discloser Agreement, and failure to comply will result in you, your kids, grandkids and great grandkids, to never be able to work in the tech industry again.
Plus chemical castration, public floggings and a giant raspberry from Teh Steve.
Actually... they use information management software.
The basic way it works... it feeds in HR data, several project management systems (IT governance software) and links together who knows what, what they are working on, and who they work with.
It acts like a very basic relational database. This generates a list of crucial bottlenecks and the list of people with the most exposure. They in turn are fed snippets of information (about 2/3 of it is bogus) which is based on R&D, new ideas, and small offshoot projects.
Under normal circumstances these people are the first to know when a spec, package, or requirement changes. (this is part of software, service, and hardware management)
e.g. When marketing decides (in concert with engineering) that the next Mac book will need to feature a better graphics card and they are bidding out 2 competing suppliers.. that info is plugged into the management interface and is then provided to those people (who are of course on NDA's etc and used to the 'need to know' system). By logging each small bit of info that is passed out, they can see clearly the levels of first hand knowledge. Then anyone linked to that person is 'second hand' etc.
When leaks occur, they trace to the source by reverse engineering who was seeded the info. Because not all the info is legit.. any would be leek generators risk exposing who had the 'first hand' info. This is because they may be the only person who as seeded with the phony or legit knowledge. Just about ALL company info that is passed out goes through this simple system. (just tracking who is told what... even about mundane things)
It's a very basic, easy, and workable solution. This has been used for about 7 years now.
The real 'magic' is when multiple rumors surface (for example.. just look at the daily crawl here on AI....) they simply flag the internal data entries for the corresponding product/service changes.. and after a short time.. they can see where.. what dept.. or what division it came from.. and with a bit more sleuthing... down the to exact person who had first hand knowledge. That's is why the few people who actually know stuff are conditioned to NOT share it..
I know of at least 2 other companies (one big name in telco and one in consumer electronics) which use almost the exact same system. They are also 'fortresses' of info.
This means that the normal ?ripples? of rumors are all well planned, and intentional. They are executed as triangulation to figure out who is the internal source.
I can point to 2 close friends (one of which works for Apple?s educational division) who have watched this system work flawlessly. People have been walked out of the building with no prior warning. If you read a bunch of ex-apple employee blogs you?ll hear mention of similar things.
Now that you've revealed all, it will be quite easy to triangulate your position in the company... start packing now.
But seriously, this is some great insider info worthy of this web site's name.