Beware of dangerous permissions and data-sharing practices
The Privacy Risks of 2024 Paris Olympics Apps: What You Need to Know
How 2024 Paris Olympics Apps Are Putting Your Privacy at Risk As you and millions of sports fans flock to Paris for the Olympic Games, you might have to pay a hefty price with your privacy. Most of the 2024 Paris Olympics apps track users, extract private data, and share it with advertisers and big tech. A study on 12 Android applications designed for attendees of the Olympics revealed these concerning findings.
While the best VPN services can protect your privacy on unsecured Wi-Fi networks, they cannot prevent data-hungry apps from abusing your data. Keep reading to understand the risks and learn how to protect yourself.

Beware of Dangerous Permissions
Researchers analyzed 12 Android apps relevant to the Paris Olympic Games to determine how they access and collect user data. Cybernews security researcher Mantas Kasiliauskis commented, “We discovered that the apps designed to help you during the Olympics are underreporting their data collection scope on Google Play Store, require excessive dangerous permissions, and share sensitive user data with advertisers.”
The travel app Bonjour RATP was found to be the most data-hungry, collecting 18 data points, including precise location data. While necessary for its functionality, Bonjour RATP also shares user locations for advertising, fraud prevention, security, and compliance purposes.
Two dedicated applications for the Olympic Games, The Paris 2024 Olympics and The Paris 2024 Public Transport apps, are also among the most privacy-unfriendly apps. The Paris 2024 Olympics app alone has been downloaded over 10 million times. It collects and shares sensitive data like web browsing history, email addresses, device IDs, and asks for multiple dangerous permissions. According to researchers, these permissions “allow it to tap into the deepest secrets you may have hidden on your Android phone.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) admitted to tracking users’ personal data for building user profiles and sharing data with advertisers, including Facebook, Google, Apple, and X.
“When required, prompts are presented to users to allow them to consent to specific features to enhance their app experience,” the IOC told Cybernews, adding that users can change the permissions they granted via device and app settings at any time.
The Most Concerning Permissions
Researchers found that location and storage access are the most concerning permissions. Seven out of the 12 tested apps want to read and write files on your device, exposing your privacy as the apps can check and modify all your files.
Half of the analyzed apps also wanted to access your camera, which is dangerous as they could potentially take photos and record videos without user consent. Camera access has legitimate uses, such as scanning ticket QR codes or credit cards, verification, and taking selfies, but it is crucial to ensure cameras are only used for their stated purposes.
“The app should help you enjoy the Olympics, but it shouldn’t need to know your whole life story or what websites you visit to do that,” Kasiliauskis said. “It’s concerning, given the stated intentions to build detailed user profiles and share data with tech giants. Unfortunately, invasive data collection is a longstanding industry trend, and lots of apps try to grab more data than they need.”
How to Stay Safe When Using 2024 Paris Olympics Apps
While avoiding certain handy apps while attending the Olympics might be difficult, there are ways to boost your privacy.
- Download from Official App Stores: Avoid downloading Paris Olympics apps or any other applications from third-party websites. Official App Stores are your best bet to ensure the applications are secure and malware-free.
- Review Privacy Policies: Take time to read the app’s privacy policy before downloading it. It’s important to be aware of what you’re signing up for.
- Check App Permissions: Review the permissions you grant for each application. Employ the “principle of least privilege,” which means only granting permissions that are absolutely necessary. If a permission is no longer needed, revoke it.
- Avoid Social Network Sign-Ins: Avoid using your social network profile to sign in to prevent the app from collecting information from the account and vice versa.
- Delete Apps When Done: Remember to delete all the Paris Olympic Games apps once you get home. There’s no need to risk your privacy for an application you probably won’t use again.
By following these steps, you can better protect your privacy while enjoying the 2024 Paris Olympics.