Apple has made a number of changes to its factory security guidelines to help prevent leaks, according to the updated guidelines provided in a new report from The Information. The company’s manufacturing partners, such as Foxconn and Pegatron, can no longer collect biometric data including face scans and fingerprints from Apple employees, however, the same does not apply to factory workers.
The Information says that it obtained an internal Apple document that outlines the aforementioned change. Other changes have also been mentioned in the guidelines to help crackdown on product leaks that come from the supply chain. In a first, Apple is now requiring manufacturers to run criminal background checks on all workers. The Cupertino tech giant is also mandating that the use of surveillance cameras be increased at these facilities.
Another change sees Apple increasing its focus on “movement of sensitive parts in factories.” As part of this change, if a component takes “an unusually long time to get to its destination,” an internal security alarm must be triggered.
Also, within these factories, Apple is said to be making upgrades to its system for tracking parts and components :
“Apple is in the process of upgrading its own computer system, which is installed at some factories, to determine how long parts should remain at one production station before moving to another. The system uses proprietary Apple software on Mac minis to collect and analyze manufacturing data, according to the person familiar with Wistron’s operations in India. This kind of monitoring can help Apple determine whether manufacturers are cutting corners, which Apple sometimes accuses even its biggest partners of doing, according to people familiar with the systems. The system also can prevent the theft of components, those people say.”
The new Apple security guidelines for manufacturing partners also require the guards at checkpoints to “keep detailed logs of the movement of workers carrying sensitive parts from one area to another,” the report explains. Factory visitors must also now show government IDs, this is something that was not previously mandatory.
Finally, security cameras must now capture all four sides of transport vehicles, and videos that “show the destruction of prototypes and defective parts” must now be retained for at least 180 days.
The Information notes that these changes are being viewed by factory workers and partners as setting a double standard, they believe that Apple is essentially cracking down on supply chain security in countries where privacy laws are laxer. The employees also say that the changes come as Apple doubles down on its privacy focus, particularly the change involving biometric data collection, however, the same standards aren’t being applied to supply chain workers.
