Spy apps described as `` genius '' are removed again from Google Play
At the end of 2019, the New York Times reported that ToTok , a globally popular chat app, was a spy tool developed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government. Shortly before this report, ToTok was removed from Apple's App Store and Google's Google Play, but Google suddenly revived ToTok. However, on February 14, 2020 local time, it has become clear that ToTok has been removed from Google Play again.
Alleged spying app ToTok removed from Google Play Store-9to5Google
Google removes alleged spying app ToTok from the Play Store for a second time-The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/14/21138522/google-removes-totok-play-store-spying-app-uae
ToTok was reported to be a spy app created by the UAE government on December 22, 2019. ToTok is a chat application that was distributed on both the App Store App Store that Apple has developed for iOS devices and Google Play, an app store that Google has developed for Android devices, in the Middle East and North Africa region Was especially popular. According to security experts, ToTok gained users' personal information with only common features without exploits, backdoors, or malware. For that reason, experts described it as 'genius' as a spy tool.
It turns out that the popular chat application was actually a government monitoring tool, and as a spy tool it is `` genius ''-gigazine
Google will relaunch ToTok on Google Play on January 4, 2020, despite reports from several news outlets that 'ToTok is a spy app.' Google did not comment on the reason for reviving ToTok at all, but from the fact that it was deleted and then revived, it was reported that `` Google may have judged ToTok as having no problem '' Was.
Google revives ToTok suspected of `` genius '' spy application on Play Store-gigazine
However, on February 14, 2020, Google again removed ToTok from Google Play. When the overseas media The Verge confirmed with Google, they acknowledged that ToTok was deleted from Google Play, but did not get any comment on the reason for deletion. According to the New York Times, the reason that Google first deleted ToTok is 'because it violated some policy'.
At the time of article creation, ToTok has already been deleted from Google Play, and accessing the individual page will only display 'The requested URL could not be found on this server. '
In addition, ToTok is a chat application that enables free, fast and secure exchange of messages. It is a popular application that has been installed more than several million times, mainly in the Middle East including the UAE. Shortly before being removed from the App Store at the end of December 2019, it seemed to be one of the most installed chat apps in the United States.
Following a report by The New York Times, ToTok issued a statement denied reporting spy apps as `` malicious rumors '' and said, `` ToTok respects user privacy and not only ensures security, , Users have full control over what data they want to share at their own discretion. '
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