Apple today announced that it has removed several apps from the App Store that use root certificates to
Apple claims that such programs (e.g.Been Choice) can potentially view the user's Internet traffic with the aim of breaking into the SSL / TLS encryption system used by the sites and receiving your personal data or the log of visited sites.
“Apple closely monitors complianceprivacy and security of users”, says an Apple representative. “We have removed several apps from the App Store that install root certificates that monitor network data that could be used to compromise SSL/TLS. We're working in partnership with the developers of these apps to get them back on the App Store faster, without compromising security or privacy.”
Root-based ad blockerscertificates, work by the method of deep inspection of each data packet sent and received by your device. It was a bit unexpected to see Apple endorse such apps for distribution on the App Store, as they can block ads inside other apps, including standard ones.
So far, no information has been received that root-certificate blockers steal personal data, but it is possible that such cases could occur in the future.
[iMore]