A British man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, is taking legal action against Apple, alleging that the tech giant’s misleading messaging features led to his divorce and financial losses totaling $6 million.
According to reports, the man deleted messages exchanged with sex workers from his iPhone, believing they were permanently erased.
However, his wife later discovered these messages on the family iMac, which ultimately contributed to the breakdown of their marriage.
In a statement provided to the Times, the man expressed his frustration with Apple’s lack of clarity regarding message deletion across multiple devices.
“If you are told a message is deleted, you are entitled to believe it’s deleted,” he stated.
He believes that clearer notifications from Apple could have prevented the situation from escalating to divorce.
The man admitted to contacting sex workers via his iPhone while married, but he squarely blames Apple for the consequences.
He contends that Apple’s failure to explicitly state that deleting messages on one device does not remove them from others directly led to his marital discord and subsequent divorce.
“In my opinion, it’s all because Apple told me my messages were deleted when they weren’t,” he asserted. “If the message had said, ‘These messages are deleted on this device’, that would have been a clue, or ‘These messages are deleted on this device only’ that would have been even better.”
The lawsuit seeks damages from Apple, alleging that the company’s misleading interface caused him emotional distress and financial hardship. Apple has not yet publicly responded to the legal action.
The case underscores growing concerns over data privacy and user expectations in digital communication platforms, especially regarding the permanence of information deletion across interconnected devices.
