Google is refusing to remove a Saudi government app that allows men to track and control women.

The app, which gives men the power to grant and rescind travel permission for women and to set up SMS alerts for when they use their passports, will remain available to buy.

Google said it had reviewed the app — called Absher — and concluded that it did not violate any agreements, and could therefore remain on its Google Play store.

The app, which is owned and operated by the kingdom’s interior ministry, also has features that send alerts if a woman leaves a certain area - making it difficult for women to leave without the say so of a “male guardian”.

Women in the ultra-conservative kingdom must by law have male guardians, whether it be a husband, father, brother or uncle, who gives permission for them to do everything including studying, marrying, renting a house, and travelling.

Google and Apple’s decision to host the app, which has been downloaded more than one million times, has drawn complaints, including from Human Rights Watch which said the tech companies were “facilitating human rights abuses”.