FBI tells Olympic athletes to use burner phones in Beijing

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned American athletes taking part in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games to leave their phones in the US, claiming that unspecified “malicious cyber activities” could take place in China.

In a notice on Monday, the FBI told athletes that vague “cyber actors” could “use a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt” the Olympic Games, including activities which could compromise mobile devices.

“The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games,” declared the US intelligence agency, acknowledging, however, that it was “not aware of any specific cyber threat against the Olympics.”

The FBI is not the first institution to advise athletes to take burner phones to Beijing. The US, British, Australian, Dutch, and Canadian Olympic Committees have all issued warnings to their athletes over potential “Chinese surveillance.”

Team USA said “burner phones” would be “encouraged” for athletes in Beijing, as, “like computers, the data and applications on cell phones are subject to malicious intrusion, infection and data compromise.”

Though their athletes will still compete, the US and its allies – including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan, among others – are conducting a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, citing human rights concerns in China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Washington to “stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics” last week and the Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the US of “violating” the “political neutrality of sport” with its diplomatic boycott of the event.