iPhone Game Developer Sued for Collecting User’s Cell Numbers

November 6th, 2009 at 1:33 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

iPhone game developer Storm8 has been sued for harvesting iPhone cell numbers on iPhones where its game was downloaded. The incident first came to light in August, when Storm8 acknowledged the issue and blamed it on an error that it said was then corrected. Michael Turner of Washington State, however, is now seeking class action status for a suit accusing the company of having violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Storm8 has some 39 free and paid games on the App Store, ranging from the free Zombies Live, to iMobsters for $19.99. Many of the company's games have different levels of free versions and versions priced at multiple tiers.

Mr. Turner's attorney, Michael Aschenbrener of Kamber Edelson told MediaPost that the purpose of the lawsuit was to insure Storm8 had a legal barrier to collecting phone numbers in the future, even though Storm8 has already promised not to do so in the future, saying, "A public admission is not the same as a legal representation or legal injunction."

MediaPost also pointed out that the suit will have a high barrier in that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act stipulates that computers were unlawfully accessed and damaged. Having your phone number sent back to a server isn't likely to constitute as damage, but then that's what courts get to figure out.

Storm8 game Ninja Live