Standard Muslim prayer app says it’s dedicated to defending customers’ privateness after Motherboard investigation causes uproar.
A well-liked Islamic prayer and Quran app has dismissed a report that stated it was promoting the non-public knowledge of its customers to brokers who then handed it to the USA army.
“Media reviews are circulating that Muslim Professional has been promoting private knowledge of its customers to the US army. This [is] incorrect and unfaithful,” the favored app’s builders stated in an announcement posted on their web site on Tuesday.
The builders of the app, which “reaches nearly 100 million customers throughout greater than 216 international locations worldwide”, stated they’re “dedicated to defending and securing our customers’ privateness”.
“This can be a matter we take very severely,” stated the assertion.
Media reviews are circulating that Muslim Professional has been promoting private knowledge of its customers to the US Navy. That is INCORRECT and UNTRUE. Muslim Professional is dedicated to defending and securing our customers’ privateness. This can be a matter we take very severely. #MuslimPro pic.twitter.com/2Lu0Zgvso1
— Muslim Professional (@MuslimPro) November 17, 2020
Muslim Professional got here below fireplace after an investigation by the net journal, Motherboard, discovered that the app was one amongst tons of that allegedly made cash by promoting the customers’ location knowledge to third-party brokers, which had been then purchased by the US army.
X-Mode, one of many firms concerned in promoting the situation knowledge, stated it tracks 25 million units contained in the US each month and 40 million elsewhere – together with within the European Union, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific area.
In its assertion, Muslim Professional introduced it was slicing ties with the corporate.
“We’ve determined to terminate {our relationships} with all knowledge companions, together with X-Mode, efficient instantly,” it stated.
X-Mode instructed Motherboard its enterprise with US army contractors is “worldwide and primarily centered on three use circumstances: counterterrorism, cybersecurity and predicting future COVID-19 hotspots”.
Motherboard used community evaluation software program that exposed each the Android and iOS variations of the app had been sending location knowledge to the “X-Mode endpoint”.
Different apps that featured within the investigation included courting app Muslim Mingle that has been downloaded greater than 100,000 occasions.
The US army confirmed the Motherboard report, saying they use the info to help “Particular Operations Forces mission necessities abroad”.
However Muslim Professional customers expressed dismay over the report on social media, with many leaving adverse evaluations or saying they’ll delete it from their units.
From harvesting knowledge on prayer apps like Muslim Professional, to focused astroturfing by the Residence Workplace, to the push for a brand new ‘European’-style of Islam by EU leaders – Muslims proceed to be singled out, securitised and face surveillance practices due to the continuing Warfare on Terror.
— Dr Richard McNeil-Willson (@mcneilwillson) November 17, 2020
True, apps have lengthy been promoting customers knowledge to 3rd events because the discovery of smartphones. Nonetheless, within the case of MuslimPro which is patronized by thousands and thousands of the very people who find themselves most susceptible to be catalogued as terrorists, the betrayal appears to be far deeper.
— Nor-Jamal Batugan (@JanJanBatugan) November 17, 2020
