It turned out that the popular chat application was actually a government surveillance tool, and as a spy tool `` genius '' expert
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The New York Times reports that ToTok , a global chat application distributed from Google Play and the App Store, was actually a spy tool by the UAE government. It is said that ToTok was used by local expatriates to contact family members in their home country, but installing the application will allow the government to recognize the user's location information, as well as address books and photo data. You can browse freely.
It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App.It's Secretly a Spy Tool.- The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/us/politics/totok-app-uae.html
Objective-See's Blog
https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x52.html
Popular chat app ToTok is actually a spying tool of UAE government – report | World news | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/23/totok-popular-chat-app-spying-tool-uae-government
ToTok is a free and unlimited voice & video chat application that could be installed from Google Play or the App Store. According to the official website, ToTok is the most installed app in the Middle East and North Africa region, and one of the fastest growing apps worldwide.
But the New York Times reports that ToTok was not just a chat app, but a UAE spy tool. The government is reported to have collected user conversations, location information, and image data of the person who installed the app through ToTok.
The UAE has long banned calling apps such as Apple's FaceTime and Facebook's WhatsApp. For this reason, ToTok has been recommended as a free calling app when expatriates call family members in their home country.
Until now the UAE has been suspected of conducting zero-day attacks on human rights activists and others, but zero-day attacks are very expensive. On the other hand, millions of people are willing to install ToTok, so the government can inexpensively and privately access users' personal information.
Like many other apps, ToTok requires access to location information, but the format is 'to provide accurate weather forecasts.' ToTok also requires access to the address book 'to help you connect with friends', as well as data such as microphones, cameras, and calendars.
According to security researcher Patrick Wardle , ToTok does not use exploits, backdoors, or malware, obtains user's personal information only with general functions, and does what it claims to be a communication app They say that they are 'genius' as a spy tool.
by NomadSoul1
ToTok has not responded to the coverage of the New York Times, but on December 23, he expressed his opinion on the official website in the form of 'About the rumors of ToTok circulating today'. According to ToTok, 'Our goal is to create an easy-to-use and reliable communication platform.' 'Apps implement a high level of security and protect user data.'
News-ToTok Messenger
https://totok.ai/news
Also, at the time of writing, the app was not available on Google Play or the App Store. 'There was a technical problem with these two stores, but existing ToTok users will continue to enjoy the service We are working with Google and Apple and will be informed as soon as this issue is resolved, 'said ToTok.
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