Spy on me, please: attendees of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar may have to install an application with dubious content


A news, coming from a Norwegian digital newspaper, sets off the alarms before the football match.

It is evident that confirming news of this depth is not an easy task, but a recent investigation published in the Norwegian newspaper NRK is putting in questioned the digital security of people moving to Tastesomething that would not be relevant at any other time of the year, but that will have a big impact in the coming weeks, as the world cup date come closer

Indeed, if you are concerned about the security of your devicesyou should know that at Urban Tecno we have articles explaining what a Trojan is and how it affects your computer or mobile phone or, for example, how to connect to a public WiFi network without risk or danger.

A mandatory application to enter the country, camouflaged as a COVID-19 tracer

The warning of security boss of media that we mentioned before is quite eloquent about what has been discovered in relation to an app that seems to be mandatory to install when arriving in the Arab country. In the words of yvind Vasaasen, ‘I would never bring my own mobile phone to visit Qatar’. The Norwegian media ensures that those who travel to the country which will open its doors to the World Cup, will have to install a couple of apps on your terminals: Ehteraz and Hayya. Is last would serve to store tickets for matches and get free rides on the subway from the country. However, the first of them, which intends to serve as tracing medium of possible infections COVID-19is the one gotten up all suspicions possible.

The Ehteraz app has raised suspicions among some media

The Ehteraz app has raised suspicions among some media outlets. Time Out Doha

The issue has not been created out of nothing, but has to do with the permissions that the app needs to work and that include access to the reading, deleting or changing the content of the telephone, access to connection WiFi and Bluetoothprevent the terminator from turning off, access the location exact, perform calls either disable lock screen. Some requests are shared with the Hayya app, although Ehteraz takes the cake. The Norwegian media ensures that through this type of access, the apps You can find out the location of the Username and that of nearby devices, which could find out who he meetsalthough it does not seem, for example, that it is possible to access the content stored in the device’s memory.

NRK has been put in touch with FIFA in relation to this thorny matter, although the football organization still has not manifested about. Naomi LintvedtResearcher in Law at the University of Oslo, it states that these applications are very intrusive, also ensuring that:

You cannot consent to all terms. If I understand apps correctly, there will also be limited options to change permissions here. This means that if you want to go to the bathroom, you will have no choice. It is a mandatory application, without options.


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