Olympic Winter Games 2022
China’s Olympic app is suspected of being a spy: Experts warn and sports associations advise disposable cell phones
China has a reputation for monitoring every aspect of people’s lives. Experts advise athletes competing in the Olympics to exercise caution.
© Koki Kataoka / Picture Alliance
Athletes and visitors to the Beijing Winter Olympics must use the “My2022” app. It is intended to monitor the Covid-19 health status. But researchers warn: the software is anything but secure.
The Chinese surveillance state has been forming for years. The communist government uses its power to control the residents, especially smartphones and digital services are under close scrutiny. But not only the Chinese population is affected, but also visitors to the country. Despite the pandemic, they will soon be arriving in droves due to the Winter Olympics in Beijing (February 4 to February 20, 2022). In order to be allowed to participate or visit them, China stipulates the “My2022” app. Experts and associations are now warning of precisely this.
According to official information, the app is intended to document the health status and thus ensure greater security against infection with regard to the pandemic. A messenger for the exchange of participants is also included. researchers from Citizenlab found out in an analysis that the app not only collects a lot of sensitive information, but is also not very precise with its encryption. The built-in chat even has censorship features.
Data protection with large gaps
For example, according to the experts, it is possible to monitor the communication between the app and the necessary servers with relatively simple means. Information such as stored data, device details of the user, names or unique identification features could fall into the wrong hands. In some cases, the report goes on to say, no form of encryption is used at all when data is transmitted.
Citizenlab had already shared the results with China in early December. And indeed: the app was even recently updated. But contrary to what was hoped, the security gaps continued to yawn and the developers have yet to respond. The experts assume that the app in its current form openly violates Apple’s and Google’s data protection guidelines.
List of banned words discovered
The researchers were also amazed by an inactive but openly stored censorship function that was apparently (or is) intended for the built-in messenger. In parts of the app, they found a list of 2,442 keywords, specifically containing topics undesirable in China. Including names of authorities and President Xi Jinping, Tiananmen, Falun Gong, Xinjiang, Tibet and many other topics that should not be discussed in China. In addition, a reporting function for chats was found, where users can report suspicious messages. The consequences of discussing prohibited topics via the app are not known.
In response to concerns raised by international safety researchers, several sports federations such as the Nederlands Olympisch Comité (NOC*NSF) and the British Olympic Association (BOA) are offering service devices to participants and even discouraging the use of private smartphones and laptops while at the People’s Republic off. As the FAZ reported, the German Olympic Sports Confederation also reacted to the concerns of experts and athletes and, after consultation with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), recommended, for example, the use of possibly untouched Samsung devices, which all athletes are sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have received.