Apple employee for six-years could get canned over TikTok Video
An Apple employee by the name of Paris Campbell may lose her job working for Apple all over a TikTok video she posted revealing an iPhone security tip. While she posts other videos about tech and the iPhone, in the offending video, the company claims tha the single mother, living in New York City, identified herself as an Apple employee which violates company policy.
After working for Apple over a six-year period, the company is threatening to fire a single mom over her TikTok videos
Working over the last six years for Apple, Campbell's most recent position with the firm was as a repair technician in Apple retail. According to The Verge, Campbell responded to a person who had lost her iPhone at Coachella. The person who lost her iPhone had received texts threatening to sell her personal information on the black market unless she removed the iPhone from her Apple ID which would allow the person who "found" her phone to keep it as his own.
@stopitparis ok let’s talk about battery issues! #techtok♬ original sound - paris campbell
In her TikTok video related to this situation, Campbell said, "I can’t tell you exactly how I know this information, but I can tell you that for the last six years, I’ve been a certified hardware engineer for a certain company that likes to talk about fruit." She warned the person being blackmailed not to give in to the demand. Campbell said in her response video, before warning the user not to listen to the extortionists. "Your phone is actually useless to them, and you’re the only person that can save them, and I suggest that you don’t," she said.
Campbell's video went viral exploding with over 5 million views in approximately 24 hours. Apple got in touch with her on Friday as a manager called demanding that she take down the video or face disciplinary action "up to and including termination." When she asked what would happen if she left the video up, the manager said that he would get back to her. So far, he hasn't.
Over the weekend, Campbell posted another video titled "Dear Apple" in which she identified herself as an Apple employee for the first time, and said that she was waiting to hear from the company about whether she was going to be fired. In that video, she said, "I’ve never actually identified myself as an Apple employee until this video. Funny thing is, though, after reviewing the social media policies... nowhere does it say I can’t identify myself as an Apple employee publicly, just that I shouldn’t do so in a way that makes the company look bad."
She is absolutely correct. An internal Apple document states, "We want you to be yourself, but you should also be respectful in posts, tweets, and other online communications."
Campbell is also a stand-up comic with 439,900 followers on TikTok
Besides working for Apple, Paris is also a stand-up comic. She has a sizable following on TikTok which numbers 439,900. While that alone might not protect her from receiving a pink slip with her name on it, Campbell points out that her videos do not contain any information that has not been already made public.
Speaking with The Verge, Campbell says, "I find Apple’s response to be directly in contrast to how we portray ourselves as a company in terms of telling people to think different, innovate, and come up with creative solutions. I don’t just have all this Apple knowledge because I work for Apple. I come to this knowledge because I have a long technical education and history. That’s why they hired me."
Her points are valid. Her videos do not contain any company secrets, and the security tips she is passing along are helpful to iPhone users. It could be argued (and she does) that what she is doing is providing Apple customers with a service. Perhaps Apple could take another look at what it has here, and train Paris to reply to questions posed about the iPhone on TikTok.
With companies finding it harder and harder to keep employees, here is someone knowledgeable about the iPhone and is willing to answer questions from TikTok users. Apple should hire Campbell to do this full time. It's what the suits in corporate headquarters call a "Win-Win."
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Things that are NOT allowed: