Qatar's 'Ehteraz' app stirs rare privacy backlash

Security flaws in Qatar's mandatory coronavirus contact tracing app - Ehteraz have forced Qatari officials to offer reassurance and concessions.

The app was criticised to expose sensitive information of more than one million users, rights group Amnesty International has warned.

The glitch, which was fixed on Friday after being flagged by Amnesty a day earlier, made users' ID numbers, location and infection status vulnerable to hackers.

Users and experts had criticised the array of permissions required to install the app including access to files on Android devices, as well as allowing the software to make unprompted phone calls.

Despite insisting the unprecedented access was necessary for the system to work, officials said they would address privacy concerns and issued reworked software over the weekend.

The government launched the "Ehteraz" app, meaning "precaution", in April and on Friday it became mandatory for all citizens and legal residents to install it on their phones.

Non-compliance is punishable by up to three years in jail -- the same term as for failing to wear a mask in public -- in a state battling one of the world's highest per capita infection rates.
Criticism of the government is rare in Qatar and laws to prohibit disrespect towards officials.

However, officials have said that the law on the app will be enforced with "understanding".
Mohamed bin Hamad Al-Thani, a director at Qatar's health ministry, said that data gathered is "completely confidential".

"There will be an update for the Ehteraz app to address the issues of concern and further improve its efficiency," he added in an interview on state television on Thursday.