Apple Gives FBI a User's Real Name Hidden Behind 'Hide My Email' Feature (404media.co)
- Reference: 0181109670
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/26/2146255/apple-gives-fbi-a-users-real-name-hidden-behind-hide-my-email-feature
- Source link: https://www.404media.co/apple-gives-fbi-a-users-real-name-hidden-behind-hide-my-email-feature/
> Apple [1]provided the FBI with the real iCloud email address hidden behind Apple's 'Hide My Email' feature , which lets paying iCloud+ users generate [2]anonymous email addresses , according to a recently filed court record. The move isn't surprising but still provides uncommon insight into what data is available to authorities regarding the Apple feature. The data was turned over during an investigation into a man who allegedly sent a threatening email to Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI director Kash Patel.
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> "On or about February 28, 2026, Person 1 received an email from the email address peaty_terms_1o@icloud.com," the affidavit reads. Earlier on, the document explicitly says that Person 1 is Alexis Wilkins. [...] The affidavit says Apple then provided records that indicated the peaty_terms_1o@icloud.com email address was associated with an Apple account in the name of Alden Ruml. The records showed that account generated 134 anonymized email addresses, according to the affidavit.
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> Law enforcement agents later interviewed Ruml and he confirmed he had sent the email, the affidavit says. Ruml said he sent the email after reading a February 28 article about how the FBI was using its own resources to provide security to Wilkins. The specific article is not named or linked in the affidavit, but a New York Times article [3]published that same day described how Patel ordered a team to ferry his girlfriend on errands and to events.
[1] https://www.404media.co/apple-gives-fbi-a-users-real-name-hidden-behind-hide-my-email-feature/
[2] https://support.apple.com/en-us/105078
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/us/politics/kash-patel-girlfriend.html
No Useful Information (Score:2)
There's no real useful information to be had in the article. The fact that Apple provided the associated account information means nothing. The only useful fact to know was whether they provided that information in response to a simple request or was a legal document presented that required them to provide the details and that's not covered.
So what? (Score:3)
There are three questions here:
1. Was the legal request made appropriately? If no, bash the agency that issued it.
2. Was the identity revealed legally in response to the request? If no, then Apple can be bashed, but I doubt it. If yes, then:
3. Is the rule under which the identity was requested fair? If not, then bash the legislature that has produced it and ask your representatives to remove it. If yes, then what's the problem again?
From the story it appears that some bloke sent an email to the girlfriend of one kashyap patel, and the FBI under the said kashyap requested the identity to "interview" him, which could have been a valid action, although in the light of other kashyap moves, it was just as likely a harassment.
But it is hard to tell which is which from this a fog-of-war kind of TFS.
Is anyone surprised? (Score:2)
TFA doesn't mention a court order, so apparently they didn't even require one. They've done that repeatedly with people's iCloud data and their location data, so I'm not surprised. No idea why the fanbois seem to think that Apple gives a shit about their privacy, I've never seen any indication of it.