Huawei is said to have tracked visitors to a booth telecom fair without permission

Telecom giant Huawei may have tracked visitors at the Mobile World Congress telecom fair without permission. Huawei denies the accusation. Trade fair organizer GSMA is investigating the matter.

Badge Huawei at MWC 2023, source: LightReading

Huawei’s badge had a small device attached to it that could have served as a tracker, claims LightReading. In addition, the back of the badge stated that Huawei was tracking ‘real-time location information’ at the booth using ‘Bluetooth and RFID’. There was no explanation of how that worked. Huawei would like to use the information to see which items on the booth are of most interest.

GSMA said in a response that it is investigating the matter because it is a ‘serious allegation’. Huawei says, despite the message on the back of the badge, that it has not tracked visitors to its booth. “Tracking is not necessary at all,” says a company spokesperson. The badge was only in use at Huawei’s booth.

LightReading was able to see the badge in conversation with a top executive of Huawei competitor Nokia. Both companies are active in the broadcasting equipment market and compete directly with each other. Mobile World Congress is the largest telecom fair in the world and took place last week in Barcelona.