JawaPos.com – Huawei again faces another trust issue. This time at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), Barcelona, Spain, Huawei was accused of installing some sort of tracking device on a necklace which is usually a sign of access for visitors to an exhibition.
The recent accusations against Huawei have created new problems in the tech industry. Many MWC attendees were unhappy with the situation. Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, is accused of tracking visitors who visited its booth at its most significant tech event, MWC 2023.
The accusations against the company are nothing new. In recent years, Huawei has been considered a national security threat in the United States (US) because of its close relationship with the Chinese Communist government.
The accusations against Huawei’s tracking tools arose when some visitors failed to restore their security access, which is required to access Huawei’s booth. Upon further investigation, it was found that the badge’s plastic case contained a tracking device and looked suspicious.
The new Senior Vice President of Nokia Europe, Rolf Werner, then removed his badge and displayed a circuit that could be used as a tracker. The possibility of Huawei using low-power tracking technology to track visitors has also been discussed.
Huawei has denied the accusations. A spokesperson for the company said that the device, called Huawei Pass, was only used at the booth and returned when visitors left, so there was no need to track locations.
The company also mentions on the back of the badge the use of radio frequency (RFID) and Bluetooth technology to collect real-time taping location information, and information on the badge holder’s residence time within Huawei exhibition areas.
The information collected is claimed to be used to analyze the overall interest of invitees in their products to improve the quality of their services. Huawei added that they will protect the information collected according to their privacy policy.
The GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the MWC, commented that information regarding tracking devices is a serious allegation. Reporting from the Lightreading page, the GSMA is reportedly investigating the matter.
The accusations against Huawei don’t seem good for the company at the moment, as clarifications of in-depth responses are yet to come out. Success in the smartphone industry, accusations of corporate security issues continue to be a big problem for Huawei.
Editor: Nurul Adriyana Salbiah
Reporter: Rian Alfianto
