Compulsory Chinese government propaganda app grants authorities 'superuser' access to smartphones

China's ruling party has made it compulsory for members to download and use the app

A propaganda app developed by internet giant Alibaba and the Chinese Communist Party, which is a compulsory download for millions of people, provides superuser access to smartphones for the authorities.

Called 'Study the Great Nation,' the app enables the authorities to retrieve messages, pictures, internet browsing history and other information from smartphones.

The app contains news and videos about the ideology and activities of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Party members and workers in particular roles are required to download the app, and also monitored in terms of their usage.

According to the Washington Post, the app has been intensely pushed by the Chinese government in recent months. It 'gamifies' users' knowledge of the Chinese Communist Party through quizzes and allows them to compete for points.

The app was launched in January and has been downloaded more than 100 million times in the past nine months. Downloading the app is compulsory for Communist Party members, while many workplaces have also made it mandatory for employees to download and run the app.

In a latest study, the Open Technology Fund contracted Germany-based cyber security firm Cure53 to analyse the code of 'Study the Great Nation' app and determine its capabilities.

The researchers found that the Android version of the app was, effectively, a back door enabling the app developers to execute arbitrary commands on the device. Such privileges enable developers to modify data, install software, or even download a programme to record key strokes.

To all intents and purposes, the app ought to be considered malware.

"It's very, very uncommon for an application to require that level of access to the device, and there's no reason to have these privileges unless you're doing something you're not supposed to be," said Adam Lynn, the Open Technology Fund's research director.

A review of the app' terms and conditions revealed that users must provide it access to a variety of device functionalities before they can start using it. This includes enabling the app to dial phone numbers, access and capture videos and photos, access user's contacts list, activate audio recording, transmit users' current location, turn on the flashlight, connect to WiFi, and much more.

However, China's State Council Information Office flatly denied the claims, telling the Washington Post that the app doesn't contain such functions.

Apple said that security features on iOS wouldn't allow such superuser privileges on any of its devices.

China's authoritarian government is accused of intensifying its efforts in recent years to conduct mass surveillance against citizens. The country recently moved its surveillance activities up a notch by making it compulsory for citizens acquiring a new phone number or wanting internet access to provide facial scans, effective from December.

The new rule, announced by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), is part of the Chinese government's wider efforts to monitor the activities and behaviour of its citizens ever-more closely.

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong government banned pro-democracy activists from wearing masks - a strategy being used by demonstrators to avoid being recognised by facial recognition systems.

Last year, police in China also started testing Google-Glass-like smart glasses, linked to back-end servers that could identify people and car registration plates.