Why a man is suing Apple for his multi-million dollar divorce as ‘deleted’ messages to sex workers seen by wife

A British man is suing Apple for over £5 million ( ₹52.88 crore) after his messages to sex workers which he thought were deleted, showed up on the family iMac, leading to divorce proceedings.

The £5 million lawsuit is to seek compensation for the financial losses incurred from the divorce and legal fees.

The middle aged man, known only as Richard, claims that Apple failed to adequately inform users that deleted messages could still be accessible on other linked devices, The Times, a British national daily reported.

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“If the message had said, ‘These messages are deleted on this device,’ that would have been a clue, or ‘These messages are deleted on this device only,’ that would have been even better,” Richard said.

Richard told The Times that he had resorted to contacting sex workers through the iMessages app on his iPhone, believing the messages were completely erased after deletion, when they all had been synced and stored on the family iMac all along, leading his wife to discover them.

“We had been very happily married for over 20 years, Richard shared. “A superb marriage was thrown away over something many men and some women do.”

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He even compared the situation with friends who had affairs, yet managed to remain married. “There would have been a way through it if the realisation hadn’t been so sudden and brutal and upsetting,” he added.

Richard said the entire ordeal has not only cost him financially but has also taken a toll on his health, adding that he was on really strong beta blockers to reduce his panic attacks.

“I genuinely thought I was going to have a heart attack. Divorce is an extraordinarily stressful process, especially with children and family dynamics,” he said.

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