Apple has just banned hundreds of iPhone apps that is said to be privately accessing the users' personal information. The said apps were utilizing a certain software from a Chinese advertising company that is collecting the personal data of an iPhone user.
A total of 256 affected apps were barred by the American multinational company. The apps which all originated from China, were available in the app store and being accessible by many people in the world. SourceDNA, an app analytics service which first noticed the issue stated that the affected apps were already downloaded a million times.
It was found out that the designer of the software was using a certain development kit from a Chinese advertising company named as Youmi. The company then allows the developers to establish their advertisements in the apps which is considered legal.
However, the software from Youmi was stealthily gathering the information of the people who are downloading the apps. Personal data like email address, iPhone serial numbers were accessed by the company which will be then transmitted to their main servers.
According to a statement from Apple which was reported by The Verge, the invading process of Youmi is a huge violation to the company's guidelines and rules for app developers.
"This is a violation of our security and privacy guidelines. The apps using Youmi's SDK will be removed from the App Store and any new apps submitted to the App Store using this SDK will be rejected," Apple stated.
This is considered the third security issue on Apple's protected app store for the past month. Just last week, the company banned several apps for encrypting the communications of their iPhones.
Last September, Apple Store also endured a major attack on their security. The incident is said to force the American company to remove a considerable number of apps because they have been infected by malwares which have the ability to fool customers into surrendering their iCloud passwords.
