Google and Apple are urged by politicians and activists to withdraw an application that allows men in Saudi Arabia to monitor and control their wives.
ΜAn online application by the Saudi government that allows men to track and control trips made by female relatives at the touch of a button should be withdrawn from Google and Apple online stores, they said today American politicians and activists.
Human rights activists say tech giants are cracking down on women and girls in the super-conservative Kingdom of Riyadh by hosting the online application.
The Absher app, created by the Saudi Interior Ministry and available for free, allows men to inform or revoke their husbands' and wives' relatives' permission to travel abroad and receive text notifications. SMS if women's passports are used, human rights researchers report.
The application is available in the Saudi version of the online stores of Google and Apple. "Part of the design of the application is discrimination against women," said Rothna Begum, a Middle East women's rights expert with the Observatory for Human Rights.
"The absolute control with which a male prostate is now facilitated by the use of modern technology makes men's lives ultimately easier and limits women's lives much more." Apple and Google were not immediately available for comment. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the American public radio network NPR yesterday that he is not aware of the Absher application, but promised to "look into it".
Women in Saudi Arabia must obtain permission from a male relative to work, marry and travel under the strict custody system, which human rights organizations criticize as abusive.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has publicly called on Apple and Google to remove the app from their online stores, saying it promotes "abusive practices against women," he tweeted. However, Suad Abu Dagid, a Middle East spokeswoman for the women's rights group Equality Now, expressed doubts about whether companies would take action. "Power and money have a say, unfortunately, with no regard for human rights abuses," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"I really hope they take a clear stand by withdrawing these applications, but I'm not really optimistic," he added. Saudi Arabia ranks 138th on the list of 144 countries in the 2017 Global Gender Index Report.
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