bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Saudi Arabia defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it.
The Absher app provides services for “all members of the society … including women, the elderly, and people with special needs”, the interior ministry said.
The free app is available on Android and Apple smartphones and allows users to renew passports, visas and eases a variety of other electronic services.
But critics have said the app enables abuse against women and girls by allowing men to track their movements.
‘You’ve been divorced’: Saudi Arabia to notify women by text message when husband leaves
Apple CEO Tim Cook told US National Public Radio last week he had not heard of the app, but would “take a look at it”.

US Senator Ron Wyden has called on both Apple and Google to remove the app, arguing on Twitter that it promotes “abusive practises against women”.
“Part of the app’s design is to discriminate against women,” said Rothna Begum, an expert in women’s rights in the Middle East at Human Rights Watch.
“The complete control that a male guardian has is now facilitated with the use of modern technology and makes the lives of men ultimately easier and restricts women’s lives that much more.”
Under Saudi law, women must have consent from a husband or immediate male relative to renew passports or leave the country.
The ministry criticised what it called a “systematic campaign aimed at questioning the purpose of the services”.
It rejected what it described as “attempts to politicise” the tool.
This comes as Saudi Arabia faces intense scrutiny over the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, which has renewed criticism of the kingdom’s rights record.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has garnered international attention with his rapid rise to power and promise of social and economic reforms.
But the kingdom has detained a number of human rights and women campaigners, some of them accused of undermining national security, with scant public information about their whereabouts or the legal status of their cases.


Tencent adds ClawBot plug-in to WeChat amid OpenClaw boom and privacy warnings

Apple’s Tim Cook visits China as reliance on Chinese supply chains endures

‘AI may know me better’: why Hongkongers turn to chatbots for mental health help

How femtech founders are changing the menopause conversation in Hong Kong

Apps

Saudi Arabia defends free Absher app that allows men to ‘spy on wives’

Saudi Arabia defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it. File photo: AFP

Saudi Arabia defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it. The Absher app provides services for “all members of the society... including women, the elderly, and people with special needs”, the interior ministry said. The free app is available on Android and Apple smartphones and allows users to renew passports, visas and eases a variety of other electronic services.

‘You’ve been divorced’: Saudi Arabia to notify women by text message when husband leaves

Saudi women use their mobile phones during the Janadriyah festival of Heritage and Culture held in the Saudi village of Al-Thamama, 50 kilometres north of the capital Riyadh, on February 8, 2016. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

A Saudi woman looking at her mobile phone. Photo: AFP

News

World

Middle East

The Absher app was created by the Saudi interior ministry,
It allows men to update or withdraw permissions for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally


The Absher app, created by the Saudi interior ministry, allows men to update or withdraw permissions for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally and get SMS updates if their passports are used.


Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia defends free Absher app that allows men to ‘spy on wives’

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The Absher app was created by the Saudi interior ministry, It allows men to update or withdraw permissions for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally

The Absher app was created by the Saudi interior ministry,

It allows men to update or withdraw permissions for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally