In a move to clean up, after discovering facts that several apps are allegedly collecting information, Apple has decided to kick out apps from the Apple Store that gather personal exclusive information of the users.
This issue was discovered by an analytics service firm Source DNA while working on its searchlight platform. According to Mac Rumors, all apps are using a third party Software development kit (SDK) provided by a Chinese firm Youmi, a mobile advertising company, to collect the vital information like apple user email address and identifiers etc.
Soon the secured updated versions of the apps will be available with guidelines in the app store, sources say. It was not even clear to the developers how the Youmi's SDK make use of the private API's and collect data though, according to ZD Net, report says that Youmi hide its intention of collecting data by calling to API which leaves no doubt to users of the system whilst run time.
Consequently, it is unlikely to catch the issue in any app store analysis. The research reveals that the Apps that use the SDK can collect the details of installed applications as well. So far, the 256 apps that have been affected are mostly apps created by developers in China.
It can be noted that this is not the first time the tech giant faced such a privacy and security issue from China.
Not sharing the details of the app publicly, Source DNA has sent a report to Apple of the apps that are affected. It seems China is looking to crack the apps developed by Apple.