This article first appeared on RTL.de.
Every football fan needs two apps for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar in order to be allowed to enter the Gulf Coast state. Experts warn of a major security risk. But what exactly do travelers have to be prepared for?
The “Ehteraz” app is a Corona app that is used for contact tracing. The other software called “Hayya” is the official app for the World Cup and also manages stadium tickets or serves as a public transport ticket. “Ehteraz” in particular is causing the experts a lot of concern – for several reasons. Even the human rights organization Amnesty International has already warned. The accusation: arbitrary surveillance and violation of privacy and data protection.
The app can access all data on the smartphone, monitor WLAN or Bluetooth connections and read out the exact location. “Ehteraz” then transmits the collected data to a central storage location, where it can be easily assigned to individual persons. In practical terms, this means that the app can track where a person is and what other cell phones are nearby.
IT expert Sebastian Schreiber from the IT security company SySS says in an interview with RTL: “In a way, the human being, the traveler or even the citizen, really becomes a transparent citizen.” Third parties would be able to follow the user at every turn; they would know to the meter exactly where it was. Because: “You can only use the app, i.e. install it, if I give certain approvals.” In the fight against the corona virus, however, this also offers advantages because the contact chains can be traced very precisely.
“11 Freunde” editor-in-chief Phillip Köster agrees with the IT expert: “Anyone who goes to Qatar for the World Cup must be aware that he will become a transparent fan,” he said in an RTL interview. Every visitor can be spied on through the official app: Third parties would know where users are, what they are doing and what they are paying for. His clear conclusion: “Anyone who values their privacy and the sovereignty of their data should better not go to Qatar.” In this context, Köster criticizes the world governing body FIFA for not taking any action against the apps.
The “Hayya” app is not quite as bad as far as data protection and other dangers for the user are concerned, but it also has critical properties, as research by the public broadcaster in Norway “NRK” shows. The app should ask to be allowed to pass on data, to be able to locate the exact position and to be able to override the device’s sleep mode. An IT expert from “NRK” therefore comes to the conclusion that he would never take his smartphone to Qatar because of the apps.
