I don't buy this. His name is not news. It is not important. If they just said "young Apple engineer" the news value of the whole thing would be exactly the sam

I don't buy this. His name is not news. It is not important. If they just said "young Apple engineer" the news value of the whole thing would be exactly the same. If somebody that the public cares about loses an iPhone, the name is news. If it is just a random person, well the news value of the actual name is almost none. Actual responsible journalists often withhold names of ordinary people that get into news stories if disclosure would be embarrassing or damaging for those people. For example, the names of people that are accused of crimes are usually not disclosed by journalists until these people have been charged. The names of people that are killed or injured in a newsworthy event are also usually not disclosed. The names of victims of sensitive crimes like rape or sexual harassment are usually not disclosed. Of course Apple know he is the one who lost it, but now every future potential employer will also know. And again there was no reason at all for his name to have been made public.