The popular "Tutuk" application, which was developed in the UAE, was withdrawn from the Apple and Google platforms to download the applications against reports of its use by the UAE government for espionage purposes.
The "New York Times" newspaper published a report on Saturday stating that the "Tutuk" application allows the UAE government to track talks, movement and other details about the people who uploaded it to their phones.
"Apple" told France Presse that it had removed "Tutuk" from the "App Store" platform, while "Google" announced that the application was removed from its "Play Store" platform.
According to the "New York Times", the "Tutuk" application, which is used by millions in the UAE and neighboring countries, is designed to appear to be a safe and easy to use means of sending messages and videos in countries that ban similar services.
The report stated that US intelligence officials and a researcher in security affairs concluded that the UAE government is using the application to enhance surveillance operations.
Patrick Wardle, a security researcher, said in a comment on a blog that "Tutuk" appears to be part of a "collective monitoring operation" that probably gave "a clear picture of a large proportion of the country´s population."
Wardle said that the application was very popular after it made available free calls and messages to its users in countries that prohibit services such as "Skype" and "WhatsApp", and the presence of opinions, which appear to be fake, praise the application contributed to its popularity.
Wardle said that "Tutuk" apparently deceives users of "iPhone" phones and Android devices to obtain their sites and the private data on their phones.
The researcher wrote that the application "is able to access the user´s knowledge list, chats, location, etc. with full legitimacy and in a way that is approved by Apple!"
Wardle considered that Totok is based on data collection similar to the National Security Agency´s "Black Collection" program, but rather in a deeper manner.
"Once you know who is talking about who, and perhaps also what they are talking about, you can learn about the interests of specific individuals and target them with more advanced capabilities," he said.
According to the "New York Times" that "The Holding Company" launched the application this year, and the newspaper says that the company is probably "an interface" to deal with the "Dark Matter" intelligence and piracy based in Abu Dhabi.
In her comment, Tutuk did not address espionage allegations, but indicated that the messaging application was "temporarily unavailable" on the Google and Apple platforms due to a "technical problem".
"While the current users of Tutuk can enjoy our services without interruption, we would like to inform our new users that we are committed with Google and Apple to solve this issue," Tutuk´s statement said, noting that the application is available on its website and on the smart phone sales platforms "Samsung" and Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo.
