Privacy concerns over Qatar's coronavirus contact tracing app have prompted a rare backlash and forced officials to offer reassurance and concessions, according to AFP.

The app forces Android users to permit access to their picture and video galleries, while also allowing the app to make unprompted calls.

The government launched the app in April and on Friday it became mandatory for all citizens and legal residents to install it on their phones.

Non-compliance is punishable by up to three years in jail — the same term as for failing to wear a mask in public — in a state battling one of the world's highest per capita infection rates.