Among the 40,000 employees of the federal government should also be one or two football fans. Now the Chancellery is warning those who want to go to the World Cup in Qatar on Monday via email. It states that it is strictly forbidden to bring business mobile phones into Qatar.
The reason is two monitoring apps that must be installed when visiting the World Cup. Both require extensive access to data and spying on users, the Chancellery warns.
In consultation with the National Center for Cybersecurity and the Federal Office for Information Technology and Telecommunications, two apps have been blocked on the federal government’s business mobile phones, Florian Imbach, spokesperson at the Federal Chancellery on request, confirmed. This was done “to protect employees and federal data”.
Arrival with a second mobile phone recommended
One of these apps is the Qatari Covid app Ehteraz. Since 2020, its use has been mandatory for adult visitors to Qatar. Not only does it have full access to the device memory, but it can also track the location of its users in real time and monitor Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections. Amnesty International IT experts have already denounced the system.
Anyone who enters the country without the app is threatened with up to three years in prison and a hefty fine. To ensure the snooping apps don’t have access to sensitive or private data, the Federal Chancellery recommends football fans “start the journey with a cheap private smartphone and not use their private smartphone for access”.
No access to the stadium without an app
The official World Cup app Hayya is also considered questionable by the Swiss cyber experts. It requires the disclosure of personal data and allows sharing of personal device data and access to the location of the smartphone. The app can also prevent the device from going to sleep and track all data connections.
Without the Hayya app there is no way to the stadium, because the tickets are also managed through it. It also allows you to use public transport in the desert emirate for free. The Hayya app is also blocked on the mobile phones of the Swiss officials.
Intervention on smartphone feared
According to a media report from the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, the necessary permissions for the apps go so far that the Qatari government could even delete or edit the contents of a mobile phone. Experts fear that the Qataris will have full sovereignty over all smartphone data in the country.
Neither app offers the option to object to the extended app permissions. What the government plans to do with the data obtained in this way remains unclear. (you)