Cop27: Cyber experts warn official app may be used to spy on delegates

Are Cop27 delegates being spied on? Official app could be used to gather confidential data, cyber experts warn

• The Cop27 app requires access to a user’s location, photos and even emails
• Egypt’s government, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, came to power in a coup 
• It is feared the app may be being used to crack down on internal dissent 
• Heads of state, diplomats and activists are at the summit in Sharm El Sheikh 

Cybersecurity experts warned yesterday that Cop27’s official app could be spying on delegates.

The online guide requires access to a user’s location, photos and even emails – allowing Egyptian officials potentially to view confidential data.

‘This is a cartoon super-villain of an app,’ Gennie Gebhart, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told The Guardian. 

‘The biggest red flag is the number of permissions required, which is unnecessary for the operation of the app and suggests they are trying to surveil attendees. 

Cybersecurity experts warned yesterday that Cop27’s official app could be spying on delegates

Egypt’s government, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (left), came to power in a coup in 2013 and has around 65,000 political prisoners

‘It’s an open question how this information will be used – it raises a lot of scary possibilities.’

It is feared the data could be used to crack down on internal dissent. Egypt’s government, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, came to power in a coup in 2013 and has around 65,000 political prisoners.

More than 25,000 heads of state, diplomats, negotiators, journalists and activists are due at the summit in Sharm El Sheikh.

The official Cop27 app, which has already been downloaded more than 5,000 times, requires sweeping permissions from users before it installs, including the ability for Egypt’s ministry of communications and information technology to view emails, scour photos and determine users’ locations.

Experts warn that information gathered from the phones of attendees could be used to crack down on dissent in the country.

The online guide requires access to a user’s location, photos and even emails 

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