Apple today announced that it is removing a few apps from the Ap Store that install root certificates to block ads not just from website, but within applications as well.
Apple says that these kind of ad blockers (eg. Been Choice) can potentially monitor the internet data of the user and can use it to break the SSL/TLS encryption used by websites to steal your private data or record your browsing history.
“Apple is deeply committed to protecting customer privacy and security,” an Apple spokesperson told iMore. “We’ve removed a few apps from the App Store that install root certificates which enable the monitoring of customer network data that can in turn be used to compromise SSL/TLS security solutions. We are working closely with these developers to quickly get their apps back on the App Store, while ensuring customer privacy and security is not at risk.”
Ad blocks that are based on the root-certificate technique work by deeply inspecting every packet of data sent and received by your device to block ads. I was actually surprised when Apple first let root-certificate based content blockers make it way to the App Store, since they are also capable of blocking ads inside other apps.
While there has been no complaints from users of any of these root-certificate based ad blockers stealing their private data, there is no guarantee that something like this cannot happen in the future.
[Via iMore]
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