Riyadh – Mubasher: Google will not pull Saudi Arabia’s ‘Absher’ app from its Google Play app store, Arabian Business reported on Wednesday, citing media reports as saying.

The US tech giant told California Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s office that the app is not violating any of the firm’s policies, the media added.

The news reports about Google’s move came after some American politicians criticised the app.

Launched by the Saudi Ministry of Interior in 2015, Absher app was tailored to allow Saudi citizens to interact with the state through access to over 150 governmental services.

Meanwhile, the Saudi app has recently come under scrutiny due to enabling men to track women, grant and rescind travel permission and set up alerts when women use their passports.

Accordingly, around 14 members in the US Congress last month asked Google’s CEO Sundar Puchai and Apple’s CEO Time Cook to delete the app.

Speier’s office noted that Apple has not made a decision regarding the app yet.

“The responses received so far from Apple and Google are unsatisfactory,” Speier further explained.

More than 11.5 million persons are using this app in the kingdom, according to Saudi officials.

By the end of February, Arab News reported that over two million Saudi women are using Absher app.