The application that will be used by the participants in the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing has certain security risks, and the athletes' data can be misused, according to some analysts.
The application My2022 will be used by athletes, those in the audience and media representatives, in order to monitor the increase in the number of covid cases on a daily basis.
This app also offers voice chat, data transfer and Olympic news.
But the cybersecurity group Citizen Lab says the app doesn't provide encryption for all data.
The Chinese authorities rejected these allegations.
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Questions about the app came amid a surge in visitors' cyber security warnings ahead of the Games, which begin on February 4.
People attending the Beijing Olympics should bring phones with a prepaid card and create email accounts to use during their stay in China, advises cyber security firm Internet 2.0.
Authorities in several countries have advised athletes to leave their smartphones at home.
Censorship concerns
Citizen Leb says it discovered a list of "censored keywords" built into the app and a feature that allows people to flag other "politically sensitive" expressions.
The list of words includes the names of Chinese leaders and government agencies, terms related to the 1989 killing of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, and the banned religious group Falun Gong.
Analysts noted that these features and security flaws are not uncommon for apps in China, but still pose a risk to users.
They add that the option with "forbidden words" is currently not active, but there are still ambiguities.
All visitors to the Games are required to download the application and use it during their 14-day stay in China, in order to track the daily status of covid cases.
Foreign visitors will also have to enter sensitive information that has already been provided to Chinese authorities, such as passport details and medical records.
From Citizen Leb, they say that flaws in the transfer of application software can easily lead to a hacker attack.
An op-ed published on Tuesday in China's state-run Global Times claimed there was no cause for concern, saying "all personal data will be encrypted to ensure privacy".
The app has been compared to the one used during the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
More problems
Cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0 also warns of security risks during the Olympic Games.
In the report, which BBC journalists had access to, it is written that mobile phones with a prepaid card should be used and people should be reminded not to use these devices when they leave China.
The report also looks at individual sponsors of the Games and their products to show the "sophisticated and widespread surveillance culture that exists in China".
One product, a VPN made by Qi-Ansin, managed to "capture" a significant amount of user data, the report said.
Under China's national security laws, authorities can request access to this data.
"China's national data security laws are not shaped by Western values of privacy and freedom and do not offer the same level of protection," the report said.
The American team is advising athletes to use the new devices, according to USA Today.
Team members are advised to use a phone with a prepaid card and rent a disposable computer.
"Like computers, data and applications on mobile phones are vulnerable to malicious intrusion and data compromise," the bulletin said.
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