Football World Cup
It’s better to take an empty smartphone with you: if you visit the World Cup in Qatar, you have to install malware
A young woman takes a selfie in Doha, Qatar’s capital. Anyone who travels to the World Cup here has to disclose the contents of their smartphone.
© urbazon / Getty Images
For the soccer World Cup in Qatar, visitors have to load two apps onto their smartphones upon arrival in the desert state. Security experts warn that the two programs have extensive access to private data.
At the end of November, what is probably the most controversial football World Cup in recent decades begins. The host is the desert state of Qatar. For years there have been repeated negative reports about the working conditions of guest workers, the disregard for the rights of LGBTQI+ people and difficult conditions for independent reporting. Visitors to the World Cup who are on their way at the end of the year are also faced with problematic peculiarities of this tournament.
Public service broadcasting in Norway “NRK” reportedthat the apps that are absolutely necessary to enter the country are basically indistinguishable from a Trojan. After a detailed analysis of the “Ehteraz” and “Hayya” apps, Øyvind Vasaasen, IT expert at “NRK” came to the conclusion that he would never take his smartphone with him to Qatar because of this.
Tickets and Corona – but also more
The actual use of the apps is quite practical: “Ehteraz” is a Corona app that is actually intended for contact tracing. “Hayya” manages stadium tickets and serves as a public transport ticket. Unfortunately, there is much more behind the apps – especially in the case of “Ehteraz”.
During installation, the app asks for far-reaching rights for the smartphone, which go well beyond what is necessary. In order to function correctly, “Ehteraz” needs the ability to read and edit all files on the smartphone, access to wireless Internet and Bluetooth and the right to override other apps. The app also wants to disable sleep mode.
But that’s not enough for “Ehteraz”. The app also wants to be able to locate the exact position of the smartphone, make calls and even disable the lock screen.
The “Hayya” app is not quite as bad, but also has critical properties, reports “NRK”. It 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.
Big Brother in your pocket
The devastating conclusion is therefore that the apps are able to change the content of the entire smartphone and have control over all data. The developers of the app don’t even hide it. It is said that the terms and conditions state exactly that the people behind the apps are given the opportunity to completely monitor the device, read it out and change data as they wish. According to “NRK”, it’s like giving someone the key to their own home without knowing what they’re up to.
The experts do not accuse Qatar of actually planning such a takeover of the devices, but name the clear risk that it would be possible. Legal experts also rate this as extremely critical and explain that the software demands far too many rights and behaves in an extremely encroaching manner. The own smartphone, so the conclusion here, should under no circumstances be taken to the World Cup.
The World Cup in Qatar is already the second major sporting event this year where it is better to leave your cell phone at home. At the Olympic Winter Games in China, too, experts warned against the “My2022” app, which could also dig deep into the private areas of cell phones.