Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Technology

Saudi app criticized for feature to control women’s travel

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The Saudi government app Absher is mostly a way for people to pay traffic fines and complete other administrative tasks electronically. But one feature isn’t sitting well with civil-rights advocates: the ability for men to grant or deny a woman permission to travel. Regardless of their age, women in Saudi Arabia must have the consentof a male relative to obtain a passport, travel or marry. In the past, a travel permit was a paper document issued by the Interior Ministry and signed by a male relative. The Absher app replaces the need for a paper document.
International | Crimes

Hackers Are Sneaking Into Women’s Webcams and Posting the Footage on YouTube

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Here’s more evidence that you’re not a tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorist if you cover your webcam with a post-it note. According to a new report by digital rights group Digital Citizens Alliance, hackers are hijacking the webcams of women and girls and uploading the intimate footage to YouTube for profit. The report, which was released at the Black Hat conference, describes how hackers known as “ratters” use a special kind of malware called a remote access trojan, or RAT, to gain access to a victim’s computer and control their webcams. Trojans account for 70 percent of al
North America | United States | Crimes

Meet Brianna Wu: She’s risking everything to make gaming safe for women

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Brianna Wu is a female video game developer who has received more than 44 death threats in the last five months. Why? For daring to lead one of the largest professional game-development teams of women in the field, and for speaking out on women in tech issues like Gamergate. Last weekend, when a man in a skull mask posted a video on YouTube about how he planned to kill her, Wu had her last straw. (Gamergate supporters have already released her home address and sent her threats that caused her to flee her home.) She wrote an article for Bustle earlier this week declaring “I’m doing eve