In a recent report done by the New York Times suggests that the popular chat app ToTok used in United Arab Emirates is actually a spying tool for the government. The government uses ToTok to track conversations, locations, images and other data of those who install the app on their phones
Other chat and calling apps such as FaceBook’s WhatsApp, Apple’s Factime are blocked in UAE. The citizens don’t really have another alternative.
According to the report, ToTok is a few months old and has been downloaded millions of times, with most of its users in the Emirates, a US-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula.
The report also described the chat app as a way to give the government free access to personal information, as millions of users are willingly downloading and installing the app on their phones and unknowingly giving permission to enable features.