Full FeedAurora Feint removed from App Store [Update: Back in place]
Aurora Feint, the free and popular iPhone game, has been removed from the App Store due to privacy concerns over its community feature, which allowed users to see which of their friends were playing the game at the same time. The concern surrounds the fact that Aurora Feint uploads your entire contacts list, unencrypted, to the developer’s server.
There was no malicious intent involved; having your contacts uploaded was just easier than typing in your friends’ data by hand, according to Danielle Cassley, one of the game’s developers. Casserly claims that they “... weren’t trying to be sneaky about how this worked,” and that a notification message of some sort was “... just overlooked.”
An updated version of Aurora Feint that uses HTTPS to encrypt the data has been submitted to the App Store and is currently being reviewed. Still, questions arise from all of this, like why transfer a user’s entire contact list when most of those contacts are likely not iPhone owners? It would be much more efficient to allow users to select which contacts that they would like to keep track of in the Aurora Feint Community.
Those who have already downloaded Aurora Feint will not see it magically disappear from their iPhones or iPod touches, so it is advised that you do not play Aurora Feint, and should consider removing the application from your iPhone or iPod touch until the update is released into the App Store.
Update (July 25, 2008)
The game has been updated to version 1.0.0.1, and is now back in the store (with a longer name and greater ambition). Amongst the new features and bug fixes are the following privacy and security changes:
- Visible notification before participating in the opt-in community feature
- All network communications is now securely encrypted using https
- No data from your contact is list is saved on your phone’s hard drive
Because this is a new version, not a patch, you’ll have to remove the previous version and install this one again. Which, because of the iPhone update bug, you’d pretty much have to do, anyway.
Original report via [iPhone Buzz] Product [Aurora Feint: The Beginning]
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I already have the application, there is no point on me removing it at this point, is it? Should I just not use the app until it gets updated or should I just not use it at all? Thanks for the post.
on July 24, 2008 at 05:49 PM - LINKSince it poses a security risk, it’s recommended that you don’t use it at all. However, if you still must continue using it, be sure to not use the game’s community feature.
I still recommend that you wait for an update before playing Aurora Feint again.
on July 24, 2008 at 05:56 PM - LINKCool, thanks Patrick.
on July 24, 2008 at 05:58 PM - LINKWhen it comes to buddy lists, don’t most programs that use them keep them stored on the remote server anyway, that way if you uninstall and reinstall the program in question the buddy list is still off in the cloud intact.
on July 25, 2008 at 04:06 PM - LINK