WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.400 We've seen it time and time again. There's a big upcoming tech release, 00:00:03.400 --> 00:00:07.720 but before the product officially drops, leaks galore start popping up online, 00:00:07.720 --> 00:00:12.000 giving away specifications, pricing, and even what the gadget is supposed to look like. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.440 But how does this happen so much, especially with high-profile items 00:00:15.440 --> 00:00:20.080 like graphics cards and smartphones? The manufacturers obviously sign employees, vendors, 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:24.080 and reviewers to non-disclosure agreements and have money to spend 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:27.440 to keep upcoming products under wraps. So what gives? 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:33.600 A lot of the answer comes down to just how many people have to do their part in keeping a product secret. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.880 Sometimes it's just an employee of the manufacturer itself being careless. 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:42.000 Infamously, an Apple employee left an iPhone 4 in a bar 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:47.000 before it was released, and before Apple could do anything about it, teardowns of the device were all over the internet. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.760 More recently, Google's Pixel 3 XL was left in the back of a lift prior to its release 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:55.400 with tech blogs being all too happy to repost the images of the phone 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:59.200 that the driver sent them. But even if no employees are being careless, 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:04.640 tech firms rarely produce everything in-house. Instead, they rely on outside manufacturers and suppliers 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.920 to assemble the finished product, meaning it only takes one person on an assembly line 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:12.880 somewhere to leak a new gadget. Indeed, some have been caught in the past 00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:16.800 trying to sell yet-to-be-released products on the black market. 00:01:16.800 --> 00:01:21.160 On top of this, it isn't just the factory making the new phone or tablet or whatever 00:01:21.160 --> 00:01:24.720 that the manufacturer has to worry about. Many high-profile electronics 00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:28.080 have many accessories made for them by other companies 00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:33.560 who are given designs for the upcoming product to work off of. For example, the news about the iPhone 7, 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:37.360 not having a headphone jack, first broke because of a leak out of a factory 00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:40.880 that made phone cases, and people noticed there was no cutout 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:44.920 for a wired pair of headphones to go in. Then you have folks who are careless 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:48.680 with product information that aren't even part of the supply chain. 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.160 Typically, you see this with technology reporters and reviewers who agree to embargo dates, 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:56.420 meaning they're contractually obligated not to release any information 00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:01.040 before and agreed upon date and time. However, sometimes embargoes are broken 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:05.760 because someone wants to get a scoop or simply by accident. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:10.080 So with all these potential security holes, can companies do anything about leaks 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:14.960 other than firing any employees responsible or ending relationships with tech reviewers 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:18.840 who violate embargoes? One good example of a major leak prevention program 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:24.640 can be found, unsurprisingly, at Apple, which operates a worldwide loyalty team. 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:28.200 These are undercover employees embedded in certain product groups 00:02:28.200 --> 00:02:31.440 to monitor the flow of information. And it might've been this program 00:02:31.440 --> 00:02:35.000 that caught 29 Apple leakers in 2017. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.320 Worse still for would-be leakers is that 12 of those people were arrested 00:02:39.320 --> 00:02:43.360 as stealing trade secrets and intruding upon a network are crimes. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.840 So people that leak on purpose for notoriety or a payday 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.400 could be looking at consequences more dire than just losing their job. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:54.480 But there's one question we haven't yet answered. Why do companies care so much 00:02:54.480 --> 00:02:59.200 about stopping leaks in the first place? Well, part of it is that companies like to cash in 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:02.360 on all the hype produced around official launch events 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.440 and having an unauthorized link could temper excitement 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:08.680 and ultimately sales if everyone already knows what's coming. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:13.240 Manufacturers also fear product leaks could give their competition a leg up 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.160 by letting them know what an upcoming product or even a prototype will be like 00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:20.480 and giving them time to respond with an offering of their own. 00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:26.600 However, there's also been speculation over the years that some leaks have actually been intentional exercises 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:31.080 and hype building by the companies themselves. So it might end up being pretty hard to figure out 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:36.440 how and why a specific leak happens. So remember, take everything with a grain of salt 00:03:36.440 --> 00:03:41.160 and wait for official specifications and official reviews before plunking down 00:03:41.160 --> 00:03:44.880 your hard earned cash. So thanks for watching guys, if you liked this video 00:03:44.880 --> 00:03:47.880 give it a thumbs up, hit subscribe and be sure to hit us up in the comments section 00:03:47.880 --> 00:03:51.080 with your ideas for topics that we should cover in the future.