Calls to dump app over abuse of women’s rights

Two of the world’s biggest tech companies are being asked to stop offering a Saudi e-government app that allows Saudi men to track and control the movement of women. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to the chief executives of Apple and Google urging them to prevent their app stores from being used by the Saudi Government to continue the “abhorrent surveillance and control of women”. Human rights groups are also calling on Apple and Google to consider the abuse and discrimination the app could fuel. Absher, an app people can download on the Google Play store and Apple’s app store, works as an e-government portal and general services software for the Saudi Interior Ministry. It allows Saudi citizens to process a host of personal status issues such as getting a passport or a birth certificate. But, according to human rights advocates, it also facilitates Saudi Arabia’s patriarchal guardianship system. It remains illegal for women in Saudi Arabia to travel without permission from a so-called male guardian. Under this system of laws and practices, women in the kingdom need the approval of a “guardian”, typically a male relative, for a range of decisions and actions, including marriage, employment with private companies, certain types of healthcare and release from prison, said Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. Using Absher, Saudi men can restrict the travel of Saudi women by allowing or disallowing them to leave the country, and limiting the dates and places they can travel to. “We call on Apple and Google to assess the risk of human rights abuses on women, which is facilitated by the app,” Amnesty International said.