Apple Pulls Over 250 iOS Apps From App Store For Storing Users Personal Data

More than 250 apps have been removed from Apple's App Store following a report that a group of applications were extracting users' personal information reports IGN.

Information collected included email addresses associated with users' Apple IDs, device and peripheral serial numbers, and a list of apps installed on their devices. According to MacRumors, the personal information is reportedly gathered through private APIs from Chinese company Youmi and then routed through the company's servers.

Apple has released the following statement addressing the situation:

"We’ve identified a group of apps that are using a third-party advertising SDK, developed by Youmi, a mobile advertising provider, that uses private APIs to gather private information, such as user email addresses and device identifiers, and route data to its company server. This is a violation of our security and privacy guidelines. The apps using Youmi’s SDK have been removed from the App Store and any new apps submitted to the App Store using this SDK will be rejected. We are working closely with developers to help them get updated versions of their apps that are safe for customers and in compliance with our guidelines back in the App Store quickly."

This latest discovery comes only weeks after iOS malware XcodeGhost was disclosed, which arose from a malicious version of Xcode, Apple's official tool for developing iOS and OS X apps.

We'll keep you updated on the apps removed as it becomes available.