Google has refused to remove a controversial Saudi government app that can be used by men to track women and stop them from travelling.
Absher, an app owned and operated by the kingdom’s interior ministry, will continue to be available to buy despite it coming under mounting scrutiny.
An investigation found the app, which gives men the power to grant and rescind travel permission for women and to set up SMS alerts for when they use their passports, did not violate Google’s terms of service.
Apple and Google faced criticism last month when 14 members of the US Congress wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking both companies to stop hosting the app.
They accused the technology giants of enabling gender discrimination – describing both companies as “accomplices in the oppression of Saudi Arabian women”. [The Independent] Read more
