Storm8: We're Not Collecting Private iPhone Data

iPhone developer Storm8 said that it doesn't collect phone numbers.

Get a snack... this is a long one.

Last month, we reported that an Apple developer was secretly acquiring the phone numbers of iPhones through its installed games. The information stemmed from a class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco accusing the developer of creating an "electronic backdoor" to access the information. The developer in question, Storm8, currently provides popular Unity-based games on the App Store including Vampires Live and iMobsters.

After the story was published, Storm8 released a statement in regards to the lawsuit and its claims. The company basically admitted to the transmission of phone numbers, and said that the problem was addressed in an application update. Storm8 added that it planned to ask the judge to dismiss the case, saying that the allegations were without merit. "We believe that we have always complied with all of the statutes referred to in the lawsuit and never took an action that harmed or impaired users or your devices in any way," the company stated. "To our knowledge, no user has incurred any damage or loss as a result of the matters discussed in the lawsuit."

Storm8 also explained that its games included legacy software that used phone numbers to track specific devices--a DRM of sorts so that the company could keep track of what's legit and what was unofficial (many App developers do this, btw). Storm8 eventually moved away from the phone-number-collecting system and chose to use the Unique DeviceID system instead. Naturally, when it was discovered that the games acquired phone numbers, a red flag went up. Storm8 immediately removed the legacy software, thus correcting the problem.

But that didn't stop Apple from booting the games. In fact, Apple rejected all submissions using the Unity engine, including those not developed by Storm8. "Ravensword: The Fallen King, like many other Unity games, have found themselves caught in the crossfire between Apple, Storm8, and API calls (_NSGetEnviron and exc_server) which exist inside of all Unity games," said a representative for Chillingo, another iPhone developer. "The same APIs were used by iMobsters developer Storm8 to solicit contact information from players. While Ravensword and other Unity-built games do not collect information from users, Apple rejected the game and others as a measure to prevent such from happening again."

Today Storm8 announced that its games are now back on the App Store (evidently they were pulled due to the claims). "Going forward, we would like to make it very clear that we will continue to carefully review all of our applications on an ongoing basis to ensure your privacy and the highest level of user satisfaction," the company said in a statement released today.

"We want to reassure everyone that since August, all current game versions do not download, store or use iPhone telephone numbers when a game is opened. Storm8’s top priority is to deliver the most exciting gaming experience possible on the iPhone platform while considering your feedback seriously and addressing any concerns you may have."

Storm8 also said that there will be improvements to its games including "huge" layout upgrades, achievements, a battle feed, and other improvements.

Get more tech and gaming news by hitting me up on Twitter here.