A Saudi government-made app which allows men to track the movements of their wives and specifically, restrict their travel, has been making headlines worldwide.
Absher allows husbands to limit the number of times a woman can leave the country, how long she can travel for and even prevent her from leaving by sending a notification if the woman’s passport has been scanned at the airport. Despite many calling for the app to be banned from platforms, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play, Absher is made in support of the country’s strict ‘guardianship laws’, which up until mid-2018, also included that Saudi women could not drive.
The major issue with Absher is that it makes it much harder for women to flee a domestic violence situation, but, despite this and 14 members of the US Congress calling for it to be banned, Google has today said the app doesn’t violate the company’s terms and conditions, Insider reports.
Last month, Apple said it was investigating the app, however, is still yet to make a decision.
