Apple hit with lawsuit claiming iCloud+ privacy tool could expose users’ real emails to websites
Apple faces a class action lawsuit claiming its Hide My Email feature fails to conceal users’ real email addresses, potentially exposing them to websites.Summary
A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that Apple’s Hide My Email feature, introduced in 2019 and offered through iCloud+ subscriptions and Sign in with Apple, does not adequately mask users’ real email addresses, allowing websites and apps to link aliases back to the original email. The complaint, brought by Anthony Alvarez, claims Apple was aware of the flaw as early as last summer, failed to take sufficient action, and continued to market the feature as a privacy safeguard while the vulnerability persisted. Apple acknowledges a security researcher identified the issue in June 2025, and the company said it had addressed the problem in a system update by March and planned a patch in May, but the patch was never released, prompting the researcher to go public. If the judge finds that thousands or millions of users were affected, the case could proceed as a class action seeking compensation for customers who paid for privacy protections that allegedly did not work as promised.
(Source：Fox Business)