A middle-aged English businessman, whose name has not been disclosed, is suing Apple after allegedly deleted messages sent to sex workers were discovered by his wife on another device, leading to his divorce.
The man claims that Apple’s lack of transparency regarding the status of deleted messages contributed to his wife finding incriminating texts on the family’s iMac, despite his belief that he had erased them from his iPhone.
This discovery prompted his wife to file for divorce.
In an interview with The Times, the man admitted to contacting prostitutes via the iMessage app during the final years of his marriage.
He said he deleted the messages, believing they were permanently erased.
“If you are told a message is deleted, you are entitled to believe it’s deleted,” he told The Times.
He described the ordeal as “painful and raw,” adding that the manner in which his wife found out was particularly brutal.
“If I had been able to talk to her rationally and she had not had such a brutal realisation of it, I might still be married.”
He is now seeking over £5 million in damages, covering his divorce settlement and legal costs, arguing that Apple misled him regarding the deletion of messages.
Simon Walton, from London law firm Rosenblatt, which is representing the businessman, told The Telegraph, “Apple had not been clear with users as to what happens to messages they send and receive and, importantly, delete.”
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Walton emphasized that the iPhone often informs users that messages are deleted, but they may still be accessible on other linked devices.
“This is misleading because these messages are still found on other linked devices — something Apple doesn’t tell its users,” he said.
Walton has expressed interest in hearing from other Apple customers who have experienced similar issues.
The businessman believes that clearer communication from Apple regarding message deletion across devices could have prevented his marital breakdown.