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Apple Identified ‘Hide My Email’ User for FBI, Court Filing Shows

A late‑March affidavit underscores that Apple’s email aliases can be unmasked under lawful requests.

Overview

  • The court record made public this week says Apple gave investigators the real iCloud address behind a Hide My Email alias tied to a threat against Alexis Wilkins.
  • The message arrived on February 28, 2026, from peaty_terms_1o@icloud.com, and agents then asked Apple for records connected to that alias.
  • Apple’s data linked the alias to an account in the name of Alden Ruml, and agents say he admitted sending the email after they interviewed him.
  • A grand jury charged Ruml with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, and agents are seeking warrants to search his phones using biometric unlocking and by disabling Stolen Device Protection.
  • Hide My Email creates random forwarding addresses, which Apple can map to a user account because it must route the mail, so the aliases are not end‑to‑end encrypted or invisible to lawful process.