World Cup in Qatar is specific in a lot of ways: restrictions, controls, even organisational chaos. The world has already witnessed the uncomfortable scenes experienced by Danish journalists. Two days before the official beginning of the Cup, another reversal: beer will be banned at stadiums. Despite earlier agreements, Qatar authorities decided to institute the ban. And it does not end here: all football fans arriving to Qatar are required to download two apps. There are potential dangers there, so the Personal Data Protection Agency has issued recommendations and instructions on what to look out for to avoid inconvenience and to protect personal data.

Croatian football fans Tomislav, Goran, Vedran, and Ivo are ready for the football madness in Qatar. They have arrived in Doha and are eagerly waiting for Wednesday, when the Croatian national team will face off against Morocco. Although this is not their first trip abroad supporting the Croatian team, enthusiasm is high.

“I think we’re all excited because we are going into the unknown, place where we’ve never been before, so we’re going to see what it will look like over there,” says Vedran Pajic.

“We have gone through the airport procedure fairly quickly and we’re on our way to where we’ll be staying,” adds Tomislav Milleis.

Before they left, the fans received a warning. During their stay in Qatar, they must download apps Hayya and Ehteraz on their phones. This is why the Personal Data Protection Agency, due to a possibility of misuse of information, has warned fans to travel with a blank smartphone or one that has been restored to factory settings, which they can dispose of later.

“When you don’t have internet, you have less problems, less memory, often there is no camera, although it’s hard these days to find a phone with no camera, but that is exactly what we recommend you bring to a trip like that,” mobile phone expert, Krunoslav Cosic, said.

The fans, it seems, are not overly concerned.

“I’m not worried because I see no difference from the data that our banks have, they have our complete “blood work”, there is no difference between these applications and what our state has,” said Ivo Stipanovic.

“We have given all our personal data to the organiser in order to enter the country, I don’t think they can take any more information than what we have given them, so I think we’re safe,” Vedran Pajic added.

Security expert warns that fans should avoid the apps in question. He points out that, as soon as someone is requiring people to download an app the function of which is unclear or which has features that can access your data – that is cause for concern.

“Your privacy, your security, things this app digs up that can be used against you in a country not best known as democratic, that is known for legal persecution, okay, take the risk, but don’t cry later. You’ve been warned,” security expert said.

Hayya is one of the apps the fans in Qatar are required to install, and the Data Protection Agency warns that the app’s introductory settings suggest the app can access the user’s data, track location, read, delete, or change content, and prevent the device from going into idle mode.

The Croatian Football Federation did not want to comment on these potential dangers for the fans.

“It is not theoretically possible that someone from the Federation could speak on this at this time because we are all en route from Riyadh to Doha. However, this is not a topic for the Federation because we are not an organisation which can talk about this with more expertise than the Personal Data Protection Agency, and it would be unprofessional of us to give incomplete or general thoughts,” the Federation said.

Every day, thousands of people install mobile apps without any safety precautions. The public is still split on whether it is smarter to go to Qatar with an old mobile phone.

Here is what some of them have said:

“It’s certainly smart because they’re going to a country where they don’t know any regulations, any rules, so why not. They will only be there for a short while anyway,” one person thinks, while another says: “I would most likely use my phone so, I don’t really have an opinion. It’s probably a good safety precaution.”

If they’re tracking data online, one person said, they can probably know what someone searched so I don’t think that can help them while they’re over there in Qatar.

“We’re trying to be safe, I’m staying safe and I’m not scared. Things can always happen, I just hope they don’t happen to me,” Ivo Stipanovic, another football fan in Qatar, said.

The role of experts is to warn the fans of the possible consequences, but the final decision – whether they will take the advice or not – rests in the hands of the fans.