Apple’s Internal Policies on Speculation and Internet Behavior

Following controversy over Apple’s recent firing of an employee for ranting about the company on Facebook, 9to5Mac has shed some light by getting ahold of Apple’s official policies on employee internet behavior, as well as their official code of conduct.

Unsurprisingly, Apple’s policies turn out to be extremely strict, with employees being prohibited about saying anything about Apple (good, bad, or indifferent) in any online or public venue.

Among the notable bits found in the official policies are:

• Apple employees cannot discuss Apple on personal websites, or from commenting on Apple-related websites.
• Employees are required to strictly separate their personal and work email addresses.
• Employees cannot use blogs, social networks, or any other online tool to communicate about Apple in any way.
• Apple employees are prohibited from spreading rumors, or discussing rumors with customers. Apple has a zero-tolerance policy on this.

These are some pretty strict policies, to be sure – but are they too strict? When an employee can be fired for venting about his work to anyone at any time, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative, or whether they are or aren’t sharing confidential information…I say yes.

Apple’s entire (extremely lengthy) policy packet can be found over at 9to5Mac.