The head of security at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) has warned visitors to the World Cup Football tournament in Qatar in November against taking their mobiles when they go over.
Øyvind Vasaasen saidafter having examined two apps — Ehteraz and Hayya — which all visitors would be asked to download to their mobiles, “It’s not my job to give travel advice, but personally I would never bring my mobile phone on a visit to Qatar.”
The NRK is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organization in Norway.
Vasaasen said Ehteraz was a COVID-19 tracking app while Hayya was an official World Cup app which would be used to track match tickets and police access to the free Metro in Qatar.
He said Ehteraz, which all visitors over 18 would have to install, asked for access to read, delete or change all content on the phone, as well as access to connect to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, override other apps and prevent the phone from switching off to sleep mode.
Ehteraz also was able to access an overview of one’s exact location, the ability to make direct calls via the phone and the ability to disable any screen lock.
“The Hayya app does not ask for as much, but also has a number of critical aspects. Among other things, the app asks for access to share your personal information with almost no restrictions,” Vasaasen noted.
“In addition, the Hayya app provides access to determine the phone’s exact location, prevent the device from going into sleep mode, and view the phone’s network connections.”
Commenting on the claims made by Vasaasen, renowned security expert Bruce Schneier said: “Despite what the article says, I don’t know how mandatory this actually is.
“I know people who visited Saudi Arabia when that country had a similarly sketchy app requirement. Some of them just didn’t bother downloading the apps, and were never asked about it at the border.”
iTWire has contacted the organisers of the tournament for their take on Vasaasen’s views.
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