Egypt spying on COP27 delegates

• The software has been downloaded more than 10,000 times on Google Play by French, German, and Canadian officials.
• An official smartphone app purportedly has carte blanche to monitor locations, private conversations, and photos.
• Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and IT created the summit app.

An official smartphone app purportedly has carte blanche to monitor locations, private conversations, and photos, raising cybersecurity worries at the COP27 climate negotiations.

The software has been downloaded more than 10,000 times on Google Play, including by French, German, and Canadian officials.

Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and IT created the summit app.

It’s designed to help attendees navigate the conference, but “Egypt may have weaponized the software and can now spy on summit attendees,” an analyst told Al Jazeera.

Analysts fear the COP27 software can monitor users’ movements and communications, read email and encrypted messages, record phone calls, and scan the entire device for critical information.

Bader highlighted that while the developer claims the program does not collect data, it can access the user’s identity, phone number, email address, all of the user’s email (for ‘app functionality’), and photos for ‘account management’

Would you want a stranger or foreign government to access your private photos? Bader said the app may be doing more clandestinely.

Most apps offer permission to access a smartphone’s location for GPS or camera for social networking, but users should be careful, says Ulster University cybersecurity researcher Kevin Curran.

Curran described the COP27 app as “very intrusive”

“There’s no smoking gun in this case.” We don’t know if the Egyptian government is collecting data, Curran told Al Jazeera.

The software could continue to track users after the climate summit concludes on November 18.

Politico says the program can monitor chats even when the gadget is sleeping.

Egypt’s COP27 envoy Wael Aboulmagd denied the rumors, saying reporters a cybersecurity evaluation found it “unlikely, physically or practically impossible” to use the software so intrusively.

Due of security standards, Google Play and Apple Store “would never allow that,” he said.

A cybersecurity evaluation disputed Aboulmagd’s claim.

Bader said delegates with the app are susceptible. “Intelligence may be gathered on economic agreements, political activity, and military operations,” he stated.

Some rights advocates have criticized Egypt’s decision to host COP27, noting a history of repressing dissent. Tens of thousands were incarcerated.

Several conference attendees say the WiFi restricts Human Rights Watch, Egypt’s independent source Mada Masr, and Al Jazeera.

Cybersecurity experts advised utilizing a “burner phone” or alternative device if you’re concerned about the COP27 app. Be aware that your talks and other communications could be tracked.

The program should be uninstalled first, they say.

Egypt’s @Wael_Aboulmagd denies that the #Cop27 app endangers delegates who download it. The Apple store and Google Play wouldn’t allow that, he says. pic.twitter.com/XZlfPGW79H

— Joe Lo (@joeloyo) November 10, 2022

There are so many blocked websites in Egypt at #COP27 , that it is noticeable and hard for us to work. We can’t use our @Earth_Uprising Medium site, because Medium is blocked. News agencies we refer to are blocked.
There is no climate action without truth and information.

— Alexandria Villaseñor is at #COP27! (@AlexandriaV2005) November 7, 2022

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