Cambodia Launches CoolApp, A Social Messaging App, But Critics Question Data Privacy

Cambodia Launches CoolApp, A Social Messaging App, But Critics Question Data Privacy

Last month, Cambodia saw the launch of its first messaging app, CoolApp, similar to popular international apps, WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram. However, digital app experts and critics raised concerns that CoolApp might be used by the government for surveillance, and infringe on data privacy and security, and suppress political rivals. CoolApp was developed over three years (2021-2024)…

Cambodia’s ‘Stop Covid’ QR Code wins international award

Cambodia’s ‘Stop Covid’ QR Code wins international award

The Kingdom’s “Stop Covid” QR Code – a location and contact-tracing app designed to prevent the coronavirus spreading – has won the Global South Covid-19 Digital Innovation Challenge award from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICT). The challenge, launched in June this year in collaboration with…

Cambodia’s Internet Gateway Ushers in Silence, Media Say

Cambodia’s Internet Gateway Ushers in Silence, Media Say

WASHINGTON —  Radio reporter Khut Sokun says he is doing less reporting this year. The reason: fear of Cambodia’s national internet gateway, which he and others say allows the government to monitor all online activity. Internet service providers in Cambodia have until February 2022 to redirect all their traffic through a regulatory body, or gateway,…

US Indictment Alleges Chinese Hack of Cambodian Ministry

US Indictment Alleges Chinese Hack of Cambodian Ministry

PHNOM PENH —  A U.S. Justice Department indictment accusing four Chinese nationals of cyber espionage reveals how hackers allegedly stole data on Mekong River discussions with China from a Cambodian ministry in 2018. The Justice Department on Monday accused three Chinese state security officials of coordinating an expansive hacking campaign targeting government entities, universities and corporations around…

HRW raises privacy concerns over the government’s ‘Stop Covid-19’ QR code system

HRW raises privacy concerns over the government’s ‘Stop Covid-19’ QR code system

New York-based, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Cambodian government’s “Stop Covid-19” digital contact tracing system “raises serious privacy and other human rights concerns,” and urged less invasive measures as Cambodia battles a new wave of Covid-19. Introduced in February, the system encourages customers, workers, and visitors to scan a QR Code when entering an…