Man sues Apple for Rs 52 crore after wife divorces him over 'deleted' messages exposing infidelity

The man said he contacted sex workers through the iMessages app on his iPhone. (Representational)

A British man is set to sue Apple for over £5 million (Rs 52.93 crore) after his deleted messages to sex workers were discovered by his wife, leading to an impending divorce. The plaintiff, known only as Richard, contends that Apple’s unclear policies regarding deleted messages on its devices have had devastating effects on his personal life.

Richard, a middle-aged man from England, revealed to The Times that he had resorted to contacting sex workers through the iMessages app on his iPhone during the last years of his marriage. Believing these incriminating messages were erased after deletion, he was shocked when his wife found them on the family iMac, where they had been synced and stored for years.

Within a month, Richard’s wife filed for divorce. “If you are told a message is deleted, you are entitled to believe it’s deleted. It’s all quite painful and quite raw still,” Richard expressed to The Times.

He lamented the suddenness and brutality of his wife’s discovery, speculating that if the truth had emerged differently, there might have been a chance to salvage their 20-year marriage.

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

He contrasted his 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 is pursuing legal action against Apple, seeking compensation for the financial losses incurred from the divorce and legal fees, which he estimates to be over £5 million. He claims that Apple failed to adequately inform users that deleted messages could still be accessible on other linked devices.

“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 argued.

The ordeal, Richard said, has not only cost him financially but has also taken a toll on his health. “I was on really strong beta blockers to try to reduce my 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, attributing his distress to Apple’s misleading message deletion practices.