Runaway Saudi sisters
call for 'inhuman' woman-monitoring app to be pulled
Maha and Wafa al-Subaie called for Absher,
which supports male guardianship system, to be removed by Google and Apple
Reuters Thu
25 Apr 2019 02.54 BST
Two runaway Saudi sisters on Wednesday urged
Apple and Google to pull an “inhuman” app allowing men to monitor and control
female relatives’ travel as it helped trap girls in abusive families. (…)
Absher, which is available in the Saudi version
of Google and Apple online stores, allows men to update or withdraw permissions
for female relatives to travel abroad and to get SMS updates if their passports
are used, according to researchers.
Neither company was immediately available to
comment. Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said in February that he had not
heard of Absher but pledged to “take a look at it”.
A free tool created by the interior ministry,
Absher allows Saudis to access a wide range of government services, such as
renewing passports, making appointments and viewing traffic violations.
Saudi women must have permission from a male
relative to work, marry and travel under the ultra-conservative Islamic
kingdom’s guardianship system, which has faced scrutiny following recent cases
of Saudi women seeking refuge overseas. (…)
United Nations human rights chief Michelle
Bachelet said on Wednesday that she had asked tech companies in Silicon Valley
“tough questions” this month about the “threats” posed by apps like Absher.
“Technology can, and should, be all about
progress. But the hugely invasive powers that are being unleashed may do
incalculable damage if there are not sufficient checks in place to respect
human rights,” she said in a statement. (…)
“Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd”.
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