China propaganda app fraught with concerns

A WIDELY downloaded Chinese propaganda app that quizzes users on Communist Party heroes and military achievements may be "studying them right back" through data collection and potential security breaches, an internet freedom campaign group says.

The app -- called "Xuexi Qiangguo" or "Study to make China strong" -- has accumulated 130 million users since its launch by the Communist Party's propaganda arm in January, according to state media in August.

Marketed as an education tool, it awards points for sharing articles and watching videos such as speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But the Open Technology Fund (OTF) -- a US government-funded group that campaigns for internet freedom -- says users also provide a plethora of data to the app, including location and emails.

OTF contracted the independent German tech firm Cure53 to study the app.

While the Communist Party advertises it as "a way for citizens to prove their loyalty and study their country, the app's maintainers are studying them right

back", OTF wrote on its website.

The app's terms and conditions also say users may have to hand over more personal information -- such as fingerprints and ID numbers -- depending on the features or thirdparty tools they want to access.

The Chinese government has come under increasing scrutiny for hightech surveillance -- from facial recognition-enabled security cameras to apps used by police to extract personal information from smartphones at checkpoints.

And though "Study to make China strong" is an education app, Cure53 said it contains code that could run "arbitrary commands" -- reminiscent of a backdoor -- on certain phones.

The app "maintains a level of access that no app would normally have over a user's device", said OTF.

- 'Intrusive app' -The investigation, which was conducted in August, only looked at the Android version of the app, partly because of its market dominance, said Sarah Aoun, the group's director of technology.

OTF is considering tackling the iOS version -- which runs on Apple iPhones -- next, Aoun told AFP.

"This is just another way of expanding that digital control through a very intrusive app that is being pushed onto its citizens," said Aoun.