Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the company will look into an app that can be used to track and limit the travel freedom of women in Saudi Arabia. “I haven’t heard about it,” the CEO said in an interview with NPR. “But obviously we’ll take a look at it if that’s the case.” In addition to accessing government services such as applying for passports or birth certificates, Insider discovered that the Absher app, also available in the Google Play store, allows male Saudi guardians to list “dependents” by name and passport number and then limit their ability to travel.
Apple and Google have been criticised for hosting the Absher app by human rights groups for facilitating human rights abuses. In comments provided to the Washington Post, Amnesty…
Written by Jon Porter
This news first appeared on https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/13/18223114/absher-criticism-google-apple-saudi-arabia-track-women-tim-cook under the title “Tim Cook says Apple will investigate app that lets Saudi men track and control women”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
