Waze ban: If only it were that simple

 

Dennis Ignatius

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Waze ban: If only it were that simple

26MondayOct 2026

Posted by Dennis Ignatius in national security, Politics

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Israel, national security, Waze

[1] On 20 October, after chairing a meeting of the National Cyber Security Committee, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered an immediate ban on civil servants using the navigation app on official duty.[1] That same night, Malaysians were urged to switch to TuJu, a little-known app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM). The Prime Minister’s Department then advised all Malaysians to stop using Waze. A total ban, Anwar now says, remains on the table.[2] It is a decision that raises more questions than it answers.

[2] Anwar’s case rests on two points: Waze is headquartered in Israel, and its terms of use are governed by Israeli law. From this he concludes that using Waze “means automatically handing over all information to Israel.”[3] He also placed the move squarely within Malaysia’s stance on Israel: “We are among the countries that have taken a strong stand against the cruel Zionist Israeli regime. So, naturally, our actions are being monitored.”[4] The ban, in other words, is meant to stop Israel watching us. If only it were that simple.

[3] To be fair, the concern is not baseless. Israeli intelligence has shown what phone data can do: during last year’s war, it reportedly tracked senior Iranian officials through their bodyguards’ mobile phones before assassinating them.[5] But that is precisely the point: the vulnerability lies in the phones, not in Waze per se. Nor is Israel alone; many governments can track and access phone data. In 2013, the BBC reported that US intelligence had bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.[6] And just a few days ago, there were reports that Iran-based hackers might have gained access to the phones of Israeli military officers.[7]

[4] Waze can indeed be compelled under Israeli law to hand over the data it collects. But Google, which has owned Waze since 2013 and whose Google Maps collects much the same data, is similarly obliged to share it with the US government on lawful request. Given the close intelligence ties between Washington and Israel, that data could just as easily end up in Israeli hands. Yet Fahmi Fadzil says Malaysians may use any navigation app except Waze, foreign ones included.[8]Google Maps, it seems, is fine. If the worry is foreign access to sensitive location data, the government must explain how ordinary Malaysians’ use of Waze endangers their own security or the state’s. It has not.

[5] If Waze poses a specific security concern, the sensible course would be to restrict such apps on the phones of ministers, security personnel and senior officials handling sensitive information, as many governments have done with TikTok. But urging millions of ordinary Malaysians to abandon Waze, and threatening a total ban, is not security; it is overreach.

[6] Then there is TuJu. Launched in November 2025, it has struggled to find its footing. Barely a day after the Prime Minister talked it up, its navigation functions went offline for “planned technical upgrades”.[9] Lim Guan Eng rightly called it a “national embarrassment.”[10]

[7] When I downloaded TuJu, I was asked to let it track my “location, motion and usage behaviour”, data that “may be shared with Malaysian Government Body”. The list runs from precise location and home address to “Credit and Fraud” data and “Other Financial Info” – hardly what one needs to find the way to local destinations. Unlike Waze, TuJu also requires users to log in, tying every journey to a name. And, according to launch reports, it runs on Google’s mapping data.[11]

[8] Foreign governments may well misuse our phone data, but I am just as concerned about how my own government handles it, especially as it exempts itself from the Personal Data Protection Act.

[9] There is also a question of consistency. If Anwar is so concerned about the Israeli threat, why did he defend a deal giving BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners and Abu Dhabi’s ADIA a 30% stake in Malaysia Airports, warning critics not to politicise it?[12] If an Israeli-registered app threatens national security, why not a stake in our airports held partly by a firm pro-Palestinian groups accuse of having close ties to Israel’s military?

[10] The government may have some justification for restricting Waze for those handling sensitive information. But a nationwide ban, especially one without a credible, proven alternative, would be an unnecessary imposition on already weary road users. And for Malaysians driving abroad, Waze is all but indispensable. A published security assessment, clear guidance for officials and a properly tested local app would have served the nation far better. Anwar has apologised for causing “some inconvenience to a few people.”[13] It is millions, and they will see the ban for what it is: a hasty and ill-considered decision made at their expense.

[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur |26 October 2026]