Apple sued over 'Hide My Email' feature
What's the story
Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit over its "Hide My Email" feature, which is alleged to have misled users about privacy protections. The lawsuit was filed by California resident Anthony Alvarez, who claims that Apple continued to market the service as a privacy-focused tool while knowing of a vulnerability that could expose real email addresses.
Security breach
'Hide My Email' feature and alleged vulnerability
The "Hide My Email" feature, which was launched in September 2021 with iOS 15, is part of Apple's paid iCloud+ subscription.
It creates a unique, random email address when users sign up for an app or website.
Emails sent to this address are automatically forwarded to the user's real inbox while keeping their personal email hidden.
However, in June 2025, a security researcher claimed that this system could be exploited to reveal real email addresses behind Hide My Email aliases.
Unresolved issue
Apple acknowledged issue a month after it was reported
Apple acknowledged the security researcher's report about a month after it was made. However, it did not fix the issue immediately.
In March 2026, Apple claimed that the vulnerability had been fixed but according to another report, it could still be exploited.
The company later told the researcher that it planned to address this in an upcoming security update but no action has been taken yet.
Legal action
Lawsuit claims Apple continues to profit from the feature
The lawsuit filed by Alvarez alleges that Apple has known about this problem for over a year and continues to profit from Hide My Email while its privacy promises remain unfulfilled.
He claims that he is one of millions who paid Apple for iCloud+ and relied on its assurances that Hide My Email would keep their personal email address hidden.
The lawsuit also cites a 2023 report finding Apple's randomized MAC address feature could expose users' real hardware identifiers.
Compensation request
Alvarez seeks class certification for 4 proposed groups of users
Alvarez has filed the lawsuit on his own behalf and on behalf of other affected Apple customers.
He is seeking class certification for four proposed groups of users, including those who bought a device and used Hide My Email and iCloud+ subscribers who used the feature.
Apart from financial compensation in an amount to be determined later, Alvarez also wants Apple to either fix Hide My Email or clearly disclose its limitations.