The digital pilgrimage between facilitating rituals and the obsession with intimacy

Farah Naqouzi, co-founder of BBC News Arabic’s Digital Brief, said: “The hajj is no longer black and white photos. Today’s pilgrims transmit rituals directly via their smartphones and take selfies with the Kaaba.

According to Naqouzi, the digitization of the Hajj season is not a “flow”, but is “part of a plan that Saudi Arabia seeks to implement as part of Vision 2030, in the aim to find digital solutions to organize crowds, transport and facilitate the journey of the Hajj, but the health emergency has accelerated its implementation. ”

“The Hajj was in the past a test, and it attracted mainly the elderly, now the issue has changed and it is accessible to all age groups,” explains Naqouzi.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the electronic portal of Hajj this year received about 600,000 requests, 26% of its owners are in the 21-30 age group, and 38% of them are in the 31-40 age group, and the percentage of over 60s did not exceed 2%.

In addition to managing crowds and ensuring that sanitary procedures are followed, digitization can help reduce thefts, for example, pilgrims not having to carry cash, as well as reduce the hustle and bustle caused by the overcrowding and speeding up ambulances for sick people.

Many techniques are used this year to manage the Hajj season, which is limited to the participation of 60,000 pilgrims and needy residents inside Saudi Arabia.

One of the most important of these technologies is the “Shayir” smart card, which contains information about the health, housing and personal information of pilgrims, and helps them through smart doors, check their health records. and find the buses that take them.

There is also the “Tawakkalna” app, which has around 21 million users, and it is the app used in Saudi Arabia to limit the spread of the Corona virus.

Among the applications developed for this season is the Naqul application, which makes it easier for pilgrims to book electric vehicles via smartphones. As well as the “Manasuna” application to facilitate travel and provide emergency numbers, and the “Asafani” application to receive health services.

There is also an app “The Holy Quran”, which includes recitations by past and present imams of the Great Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque. An app has also been adopted to facilitate the presentation of the sacrifices of Eid al-Adha, which is the “Ihsan platform” for the distribution of sacrifices.

Digitization will not be limited to the season of Hajj, but rather a strategy that should be used throughout the year, during the season of Umrah, which also has a special application, “Omrahna”.

One of the digital technologies that will be tested this year is a smart bracelet called “Nosk” developed by the Saudi Telecom Company stc, and 5,000 copies of it will be tested during the Hajj season this year.

Managing Director of Modern Business Development at stc Saud Al-Sharihi told BBC News Arabic that the bracelet is a joint project between the company and the “Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA) in cooperation with the ministry of Hajj and Umrah and guests of the Rahman program. “

Among the services provided by the bracelet, “requesting medical, safety or guidance assistance, displaying the state of health and measuring the percentage of oxygen and the heart rate”.

Al-Shrihi says the Nusk bracelet is part of a plan to increase the efficiency of procedures “through an Internet of Things-based technical system to enhance the pilgrim’s experience and provide quality services.” .

The Saudi Telecom Company has also equipped two robots, the first is a staff, which can move among the pilgrims and respond to their requests, and the other is a security detail dedicated to monitoring and monitoring compliance with measures. preventive.

On communication sites, cassettes of a robot called “Moving Watering” have been published, whose mission is to distribute Zamzam water to pilgrims, to facilitate social distancing.

The expansion of the digitization space can put obstacles in the realization of the spiritual experience of religious obligation, and focus on the rituals and what they require of serenity.

In Al-Sharihi’s opinion, the techniques used, such as “nesk”, are intended to “reduce the burden on pilgrims, for the sake of their health and safety, and do not affect the orientation of the pilgrim and the spirituality of his journey. “

Digitization poses another challenge regarding user privacy, especially with Saudi authorities announcing the use of the “Banan” system for facial recognition, during the current season.

The system aims, according to the “Sdaya” account on Twitter, to “verify the validity of Hajj’s permit, identify unidentified bodies and identify the unconscious in hospitals.”

The privacy and data protection policy adopted in Saudi Arabia states that “the collection of personal data should be limited to the minimum amount of data that can achieve the purposes specified in the privacy notice”.

“The use of surveillance technologies in Gulf countries is part of digital dictatorships, as Gulf governments in general, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in particular, strive to expand their control over the internet. in their countries and in the region, ”said Muhammad Najm, executive director of SMEX, an organization specializing in digital rights and freedoms.

SMEX (social media exchange), a non-governmental organization based in Lebanon, publishes periodic reports on the protection of privacy and personal data in the Arab region.

Najm is concerned that data on pilgrims’ medical histories and facial recognition technologies are being misused. He points to the decline in the use of facial recognition technologies because of their danger to digital security, in countries like the United States.

Najm adds to BBC News Arabic: “Saudi Arabia has many human rights abuses, and expanding its control over the digital space is likely to lead to more violations. There is no respect for the personal data of individuals in the policies there. We fear that these technologies will affect the data of millions of pilgrims in the years to come.