Daniel Amitay, developer of Big Brother Camera Security, and the man directly responsible for providing us all with a glimpse into the most common iPhone passcodes earlier this week, has had his application pulled from the App Store by Apple.
We’re not exactly surprised.
Amitay has written up a post on his website outlining the reasons that he feels that his application was wrongfully removed from the App Store. He believes section b. of the iTunes EULA puts him in the clear, and lets him collect passcodes because there is no other identifying information being collected and sent to his server. According to Amitay, there’s no way for him to draw the connection between the phone or user and their passcodes.
Section b. of the iTunes EULA states:
b. Consent to Use of Data: You agree that Application Provider may collect and use technical data and related information, including but not limited to technical information about Your device, system and application software, and peripherals, that is gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, product support and other services to You (if any) related to the Licensed Application. Application Provider may use this information, as long as it is in a form that does not personally identify You, to improve its products or to provide services or technologies to You.
Amitay has also pointed out that he wasn’t actually collecting passcode information from phones; instead he was collecting passcode information for his application, and extrapolating that information to make assumptions about actual passcode usage.
Either way, his application is no more.
