Google Bans Dozens of 'Spy Apps With Ties to US Government,' Muslims Targeted

Did you know the government could be spying on you through your favorite Muslim app? You better check your phone now, because dozens of apps with alleged ties to US spy agencies have been pulled out from the Google Play Store for spying on Muslims and secretly harvesting their data.

Millions of people had downloaded the spy software including several Muslim prayer apps.

The software registered GPS data and collected the phone numbers and email addresses of the users.

 

US Spy

Including Muslim prayer apps, like a speed-trap alert app and a QR-code reader, many apps were removed from the Google Play Store on March 25, 2022, following researchers’ revelations saying apps included software for spying and secretly saving user data, developed by a company linked to US security agencies, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The software was tracking GPS data and collecting people's phone numbers in addition to their email addresses.

“Cyber researchers said this week that the code discovered within the apps was written by Panamanian company Measurement Systems S. de R.L, cyber researchers wrote this week,” The Sun reported.

About how the company is linked, it was through records and web registrations to a Virginia defense agent working for US national security agencies, including cyber intelligence, network defense and intelligence-intercept work.

While auditing work searching for vulnerabilities in Android apps, two researchers revealed the data-hoovering code and published their findings the same week.

In addition to Muslim prayer apps, the code was also discovered in QR-code reading app and a number of other popular apps.

App developers said Measurement Systems paid developers from all over the world to incorporate its software development kit into apps.

 

Harvesting User Data

Popular apps containing the secret data-harvesting software like Speed Camera Radar, and Al-Moazin Lite had over 10 million downloads, each one, “and QR & Barcode Scanner and Qibla Compass - Ramadan 2022, each with over 5 million downloads,” according to Joel Reardon and Serge Egelman.

The Wall Street Journal said the Panama-based company Measurement Systems S. de R.L. gave money to app developers in order to include its code in their software, in doing so, Measurement Systems could collect data from millions of users around the world.

Google banned these apps from Google Play Store to prohibit harvesting of user data, but a Google spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that these apps cannot apply for reinstatement in the Google Play Store unless the offending code is removed.

“Measurement Systems’ software was included in apps downloaded to at least 60 million devices,” Reardon and Egelman told the Wall Street Journal.

After the researchers’ announcement, the software reportedly stopped collecting users' personal information; at the same time, Google conducted an investigation.

Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw posted a video on Instagram saying that the US military and US government have no right to surveil Muslims calling for support to keep fighting for justice.

 

Urgent Investigation

The Wall Street Journal found that Measurement Systems was linked via “company records and an internet domain registration to a Virginia-based contractor involved in cyber intelligence operations for US security agencies.” However, the company denied to the American newspaper that it was involved in the secret data-harvesting, and it had no links to US defense contractors.

The developer of the Al-Moazin Lite app told the Wall Street Journal that “the company had been led to believe Measurement Systems was gathering data on behalf of internet service, financial and energy companies,” saying that this highlighted “the importance of not accepting candy from strangers.”

In order to surveil and suppress dissidents, some apps used Measurement Systems’ software to collect phone numbers, email addresses and GPS data, which could be used to track people’s movements knowing only their phone number or email address.

In fact the governments sometimes hire mercenary hacker groups to collect data from encoded communications apps.

Russia is a particularly prominent supporter of hacking, posting a “serious and persistent threat to critical infrastructure both in the United States and around the world,” according to Department of Justice officials.

In fact, on March 24, 2022, the Department of Justice reported charges against four Russian employees in the government as they allegedly targeted thousands of computers connected to the energy sector in about 135 countries, including the US between 2012 and 2018.

However, the largest American-Muslim rights group has insisted congressional leaders to conduct an investigation reporting that US military entrepreneurs are still spying on Muslims through religiously-themed mobile phone apps.

On Monday, April 18, 2022, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement that “it wrote to US House and Senate committees on judiciary, armed services, and intelligence after the Wall Street Journal reported on the continued surveillance of Muslim Americans,” Middle East Eye reported.