How dangerous are the compulsory apps for football fans?

How dangerous are the compulsory apps for football fans?

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner. But it also brings with it numerous negative headlines. For example, fans who want to travel to Qatar will have to install a mandatory app on their cell phone or tablet. Many IT experts believe that this represents a very serious security risk.

The 2022 World Cup and its problems

The 2022 World Cup is already attracting a lot of critics. And now the fans are to be monitored via a cell phone app. It would be better to leave your cell phone at home. After all, if you don't have your cell phone with you, you can't be monitored via an app.

Compared to the German Corona warning app, for example, the data is sent to a central storage location via the snooping app in Qatar. All persons can be identified there by an ID number. As a result, the app interferes significantly more with the privacy of the fans. The operators of the app can track where they are at any given moment and even which other smartphones can be found in the immediate vicinity. This means that they can also see who is meeting with whom.

What else does the snooping app do in Qatar?

In addition to the points already mentioned, the compulsory app for football fans at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar can manage the so-called Hayya Card in various ways. This is needed, for example, to enter the country or to visit a stadium. Anyone who doesn't use the app or uses it incorrectly faces a huge fine of 50,000 euros and could even be imprisoned for three years. All of this already speaks in favor of not visiting the country during the 2022 World Cup.

And of course there are many other reasons for this, such as the violation of human rights. Qatar is a monarchy and there are different rules than in other countries. Women still have hardly any rights.

Thus, it is actually a questionable place for an event where many happy soccer fans want to meet. For example, the motto for the 2006 World Cup in Germany was "At home with friends”. This cannot be said at all about the 2022 event in Qatar. And with the compulsory app, the authorities have now put yet another hurdle in the way of fans.