For secretly stealing users’ phone number by exploiting a backdoor iPhone vulnerability, app developer Storm8 got slapped with a class action lawsuit.

Storm8 makes games like Vampires Live and iMobsters, that operate very similar to the popular Facebook game “Mafia Wars,” including letting you spend real money to get better weapons and more energy in the game. Many of Storm8’s titles are top iPhone game app downloads, probably because each game says that you can get extra points in it if you download one of their other games.

BoingBoing reports that the number harvesting was hidden until the company noted it in August, chalking it up as a bug. However, the lawsuits says that only “very specific and specialized software code” could do that. Storm8 has not returned BoingBoing’s requests for comment.

Lawsuit text (PDF)

iPhone game dev accused of stealing players’ phone numbers [BoingBoing] (Photo: C?vin ?)

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