To enter the stadium for the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany, visitors must have a digital admission ticket, which is provided and managed through UEFA’s official ticketing app. This app requires access to some personal information. What is not disclosed in the Apple and Google app stores is that the app shares the location of ticket holders with police authorities.
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This risk is shown by a report by Bayerischer Rundfunk about fans, which, however, only briefly mentions this point (from 0:52). Accordingly, UEFA’s ticket app sends anonymous user location data to local authorities at any time so that they can monitor the movements of large groups of fans, primarily for security purposes.
However, neither the Google Play Store nor the Apple App Store mention that the UEFA Tickets app shares location data. Anyone who installs the app on their smartphone will only be informed that personal data such as name, email and telephone number will be collected and app activities will be shared, later for analysis purposes. There will be no shared location data to be found, but users will have to allow GPS access when installing the app.
No alternative to ticket app for stadium tours
There is no alternative to the UEFA Tickets app; traditional paper-based tickets are no longer offered for this European Football Championship. It is not possible to print out a digital ticket; the smartphone app also prevents screenshots of the ticket. To enter the stadium, Bluetooth must be activated because, according to UEFA, in addition to the QR code on the ticket, “Bluetooth technology is used to verify the authenticity of mobile tickets during the entry process.” Der Spiegel writes.However, an active internet connection is not required to access the stadium.
In the BR report, Brigitte Rotberg, head of the EM situation center in Munich, shows where fans gather and where they are going, as the location data is transmitted live by the Ticket app. This enables the authorities to immediately move emergency services to any hot spot. However, it is not shown when and if the escalation will take place. It is also initially unclear who is involved, as the location data is transmitted anonymously.
(FDS)
