Apple will 'take a look' at controversial app that allows Saudi men to track women

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will "take a look" at a controversial app in Saudi Arabia that allows Saudi men to track their wives and daughters, reports NPR.

Absher, an app which was created by a subset of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, has been distributed on both Apple and Google app stores, with more than one million downloads on the latter platform, per Vice News.

The app says users "can safely browse your profile or your family members, or [laborers] working for you, and perform a wide range of eServices online," NPR reports. App users can also receive a notification whenever one of the people they are tracking attempts to use a passport. All women in Saudi Arabia are required to have a male guardian and need permission to travel, per Vice News.

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Human rights groups have taken issue with the app, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on Apple and Google earlier this week to remove the app. "It is hardly news that the Saudi monarchy seeks to restrict and repress Saudi women," wrote Wyden in a letter to the companies, "but American companies should not enable or facilitate the Saudi government's patriarchy."

Cook told NPR he had not heard about the controversy before being asked about it during an interview on Monday. The app has remained available on both platforms as of Wednesday.