Apple and Google to review Saudi App

Apple and Google have been accused of aiding the enforcement of ‘gender apartheid’ in Saudi Arabia. They are hosting a controversial app called Absher that allows men to track women under their guardianship.

Background

Saudi women are subject to guardianship laws (wilaya or wisaya), based on a strict interpretation of Shariah law. Under the law, all females must have a male guardian. 

Girls and women are forbidden from travelling, conducting official business, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians. A woman remains a legal dependent, no matter her age, education level or marital status. They need the approval of a guardian for a range of decisions and actions. Women must show the signed permission from a guardian (mahram) before she is free to travel, even inside Saudi Arabia.

In 2000, Saudi Arabia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, including the guardianship system. The government has approved international and domestic declarations regarding women's rights and insists that there is no law of male guardianship. In 2018, Saudi Arabia was elected as a new member to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and will started its term in January 2019.

Analysis

Apple and Google have been accused of helping to "enforce gender apartheid" in Saudi Arabia, by offering a sinister application that allows men to track women and stop them leaving the country.

Absher is a Saudi government website. It works as an e-government portal and general services software for the Saudi Interior Ministry. It allows Saudi citizens to process a host of personal status issues such as getting a passport, a birth certificate or vehicle registration. Using Absher, Saudi men can restrict the travel of women by first allowing or disallowing them to leave the country, and the men can also limit the dates and places women are permitted to travel. It also includes an automatic SMS feature, which texts male guardians when a woman uses her passport at a border crossing or airport check-in. The Absher app is hosted by Google and Apple.

Human rights groups are calling on the tech giants to consider the abuse and discrimination that the app could fuel. Human Rights Watch said "Apple and Google have rules against apps that facilitate threats and harassment. "Apps like this one can facilitate human rights abuses, including discrimination against women." The alert system, which can be set up inside Absher, is one of the main reasons women trying to flee Saudi Arabia get caught, according to activists. Amnesty International said in a statement “We call on Apple and Google to assess the risk of human rights abuses on women, which is facilitated by the App, and mitigate the harm that the App has on women”

US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) who frequently aligns with human rights groups, said in a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook "I write to ask that you immediately remove from your app stores the Saudi government’s Absher app, which enables Saudi men to track and control the movements of Saudi women," Wyden wrote.  

Apple does not include the number of downloads for apps, but according to the Google Play store, Absher has been installed on devices more than 1 million times. The Interior Ministry says on its website that Absher platforms for individuals and businesses have more than 11 million users.

Yasmine Mohammed, a former Muslim and an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia said that the companies are "facilitating the most archaic misogyny" and helping the Saudi government to enforce "gender apartheid."

Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “I haven’t heard about it, but obviously we’ll take a look at if that is the case.”

The backlash against the app comes after several negative headlines involving Saudi Arabia, including a Saudi teen granted asylum in Canada after fleeing the kingdom, with her escape highlighting its male guardianship laws. The Saudi government also continues to face condemnation after the October killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

Assessment

Our assessment that companies should discourage products or services that materially abet violations of women’s fundamental rights in countries practicing gender apartheid. We feel that firms should not profit from abetting gross violations of women’s rights. We believe that states should negotiate new norms and laws for the digital age. It can be noted that invasions of privacy enabled by technology could put every other human right at risk.