China's ad firm Youmi apologizes for data-harvesting APIs used in pulled iOS apps

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2015
Chinese mobile advertiser Youmi on Tuesday offered "sincere apologies" for supplying an SDK to developers that contained data-collecting private APIs in violation of App Store rules.




In a statement, Youmi said that it was working with Apple to fix the situation, according to Dow Jones. For developers whose apps were removed from the App Store, the company is also promising "reasonable compensation once this matter has been properly resolved."

Earlier this week, code anayltics firm SourceDNA revealed that Youmi's APIs were collecting information such as email addresses, device identifiers, and lists of installed apps. The data was then uploaded to a remote server. At least 256 apps relied on Youmi's SDK, but Apple has since pulled them and banned future use of the SDK.

SourceDNA suggested that Youmi's activities were intentionally deceptive, with programming tricks evolving over the course of nearly two years to keep the data collection hidden and avoid Apple safeguards.

Apple is typically strict about the code that makes it into App Store titles, but in the past month has had to deal with the YiSpecter and XcodeGhost malware infections, as well as serious vulnerabilities in some content blockers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    too many of Chinese screwups recently.....at least to my liking.
  • Reply 2 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Anton Zuykov View Post



    too many of Chinese screwups recently.....at least to my liking.



    Chinese bad behavior; the screwups are on Apple's end.

  • Reply 3 of 27
    Liars, you are ashamed you got caught, just like Chinese eBay sellers who claim to be in the Uk when infact they are in China
  • Reply 4 of 27
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Don't blame Chinese. Not everyone is like that but anyone part of rising middle class from the decades of very low income where society is driven by image, every unethical means have to be used to come up. So, you just have to be more than vigilant on your side dealing.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wood1208 View Post



    Don't blame Chinese. Not everyone is like that but anyone part of rising middle class from the decades of very low income where society is driven by image, every unethical means have to be used to come up. So, you just have to be more than vigilant on your side dealing.



    Don't blame the Chinese, they're just untrustworthy liars and thieves -- did I translate that correctly?

  • Reply 6 of 27
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LordJohnWhorfin View Post

     



    Don't blame the Chinese, they're just untrustworthy liars and thieves -- did I translate that correctly?




    USA helped china to where it is now hoping to turn it into Democratic country. Now China and Chinese people are stronger and will keep getting stronger using all necessary methods(hacking and stealing corporate product plans and design, defense secrets, people's private data and than sell or use to benefit,etc). Than under international trade. sell at cheaper price.

  • Reply 7 of 27
    Blame the developers of the product. They knew exactly what they were doing when they did it. There is no reason to apologize then claim to be working with Apple to solve the problem.

    While so many are condemning the Chinese as liars and thieves, do not forget the companies in the trustworthy, law-abiding United States who did the same thing a few years ago.

    Google did something similar with Safari.
  • Reply 8 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wood1208 View Post

     



    USA helped china to where it is now hoping to turn it into Democratic country. Now China and Chinese people are stronger and will keep getting stronger using all necessary methods(hacking and stealing corporate product plans and design, defense secrets, people's private data and than sell or use to benefit,etc). Than under international trade. sell at cheaper price.


     

    Huh?  What?  Not a bit of your writing is intelligible.

  • Reply 9 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Anton Zuykov View Post



    too many of Chinese screwups recently.....at least to my liking.

    Okay, if this is too many, how many screwups ARE to your liking?

  • Reply 10 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TeaEarleGreyHot View Post

     

    Okay, if this is too many, how many screwups ARE to your liking?




    It is not just a question of how many, but a question of the trend. I tend to pay attention to trends more than just to a current state.

     

  • Reply 11 of 27
    rayzrayz Posts: 814member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by leavingthebigG View Post



    Blame the developers of the product. They knew exactly what they were doing when they did it. There is no reason to apologize then claim to be working with Apple to solve the problem.



    While so many are condemning the Chinese as liars and thieves, do not forget the companies in the trustworthy, law-abiding United States who did the same thing a few years ago.



    Google did something similar with Safari.

     

    GatorGuy in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

  • Reply 12 of 27
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    "working with Apple" means re-working the code and keep re-submitting until it passes through Apple's filtering process.  I highly doubt Apple is going to lift any finger (except the middle one) for them.  They are only sorry they got caught.  

  • Reply 13 of 27
    patsupatsu Posts: 430member

    It's a clear cut case. Youmi has admitted wrongdoing. They will need to compensate not just their customers. They will also need to compensate the users and of course Apple for the loss of data and damage.



    Once the affected apps and SDKs have been removed/banned, and damages have been dealt, then they can talk about helping Youmi with their next release. Otherwise, ban them forever.

     

    If Apple showed weaknesses in punishing the offenders here, more companies will attempt.

  • Reply 14 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by LordJohnWhorfin View Post

     



    Don't blame the Chinese, they're just untrustworthy liars and thieves -- did I translate that correctly?


     

    While the Chinese companies involved in this are shameless and unethical, let's not forget that Facebook and Google have done similar things.

  • Reply 15 of 27
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by LordJohnWhorfin View Post

     



    Don't blame the Chinese, they're just untrustworthy liars and thieves -- did I translate that correctly?




    As if you don't get the exact same behaviour amongst the sleazy element of every country on Earth.  China has over a billion people in it, of course there's some sleaze balls, and there's quite possibly more than in most other countries because of that larger population.  Proportionally though?  I doubt its significantly different from anywhere else, including the USA, which is a long way from being crime or sleaze free.

  • Reply 16 of 27
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by LordJohnWhorfin View Post

     



    Don't blame the Chinese, they're just untrustworthy liars and thieves -- did I translate that correctly?


    "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." There are thousands, if not millions, of people in both USA and Canada who exhibit the same behaviour, many of whom  help form the government of each country. Should we paint all of the citizens of theses countries with the same brush?

  • Reply 17 of 27
    glynhglynh Posts: 133member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by patsu View Post

     

    It's a clear cut case. SourceDNA has admitted wrongdoing. They will need to compensate not just their customers. They will also need to compensate the users and of course Apple for the loss of data and damage.



    Once the affected apps and SDKs have been removed/banned, and damages have been dealt, then they can talk about helping SourceDNS with their next release. Otherwise, ban them forever.

     

    If Apple showed weaknesses in punishing the offenders here, more companies will attempt.




    Shouldn't you replace SourceDNA & SourceDNS with Youmi?

  • Reply 18 of 27
    Dude we are so sorry! Not only that, but we are sincere about it! We are working to fix it because we sincerely want to be on the Apple store, hey that's our sorry business!!

    Non stoked.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    It's like when Volkswagen got caught cheating on emissions testing: they claim it was against their corporate values and blamed it on some engineers. Management didn't know what was going on, and did not participate in any cover up. Uh huh. Right.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    patsupatsu Posts: 430member
    glynh wrote: »

    Shouldn't you replace SourceDNA & SourceDNS with Youmi?

    Yep ! I corrected my post.
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