Privacy concerns over Covid-19 apps


Issue 1105 - 19 Jun 2020 | 1 minute read

Contact tracing apps being used in Bahrain and Kuwait to contain the spread of coronavirus have been labelled among the most invasive in the world, putting the privacy and security of users at risk. Advocacy group Amnesty International carried out a technical analysis of apps in 11 countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. Amnesty claimed BeAware Bahrain and Kuwait’s Shlonik app were “among the most alarming mass surveillance tools”, as they involve live or near-live tracking of users’ locations which are uploaded to a central database.

Tagged with:

Pin Politics & people

Want to read more?

Subscribe to Gulf States Newsletter

View subscription options

Join our community

Sign up for an account to gain:

  • Set up news alerts on the countries and sectors that matter to you.
  • Free access to newsletter articles under 100 words.
  • Free access to GSN View articles articles.


View a selection of Free articles

Explore subscription options

Follow us on Google News