First- there is absolutely no way for a civilian reporter and civilian readers to know if this article is even true. The CIA doesn't make a practice of verifying where they are/aren't collecting intelligence around the world, for obvious reasons. If the CIA did collect HUMINT on the UAE they would be very careful about it- they don't want to damage the relationship we have with one of the few countries that lets the USA operate armed jets on regular missions (many countries allow the USA to base jets, but restrict taking off with weapons or other inconvenient things to the military).

Second, if the CIA actually doesn't collect HUMINT in the UAE, it's not because we think they are unimpeachable in their conduct. It's because we don't need to put people at risk to get the information we need. By themselves the UAE isn't capable of very much. The UAE's power comes from money and they conduct their business out in the open. The intelligence community gets all the information they need by watching bank transactions and that leads them to the people they really need to spy on.

The UAE is different from Iran, which not only funds malign groups but actually trains and commands its own network. Iran's money and people need to be watched, but the UAE doesn't get its hands dirty, so we only need to watch their money.

Edit: rather than fix all my grammar, when I say "we" I mean the USA as a nation, not that I'm some CIA agent with spare time to comment on HN.