Malaysia bans civil servants from using Waze over Israel links

Malaysia has banned all civil servants from using Waze, the Google-owned navigation app, after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said its origins in Israel raised security concerns, Geo News reported, citing Reuters.

The order applies across the federal civil service, state governments and local authorities. Muslim-majority Malaysia is a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause and has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

“We cannot compromise”

Anwar said on Tuesday the government was looking into possible security risks from Waze, which he said “was bound to Israeli laws”. He said the risks concerned users’ information and movement data.

“We cannot compromise on the security of people’s data and identities,” he said in a Facebook post after chairing a meeting of the national cybersecurity committee.

He did not give details of the risks, but recommended TuJu, a local navigation app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, as an alternative. TuJu was built with Prosignal Consortium and launched by Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi on November 26, 2025, Malay Mail reported.

The order

In a letter dated October 20, Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said the decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Anwar and that the ban would take effect immediately. An official at the Prime Minister’s Department confirmed the letter was genuine.

The letter was sent to:

• All ministry secretaries-general and heads of federal departments.
• Heads of federal statutory bodies.
• State government secretaries and heads of local authorities.

Department heads must make sure every officer under them, including in related agencies, is told about the decision. Questions are to go to the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA), the coordinating agency, Malay Mail reported.

What is Waze?

Waze was founded in Israel. It uses satellite signals and crowd-sourced reports from drivers to give real-time traffic information. Google, part of Alphabet, bought it in 2013 for about $1 billion.

MPs ask: why only Waze?

The ban drew questions in Malaysia’s parliament on Wednesday. Chow Yu Hui, an MP from Prime Minister Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, asked how Waze’s risks differ from those of other US-owned apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram.

“If Waze is banned on the grounds that its company is based in Israel, when Waze has been owned by Google since 2013, what is the difference in data security risks between Waze and Google Maps, which is owned by the same parent company?” he asked during the budget debate, Malay Mail reported.

He also noted that the United States had been implicated in surveillance of foreign leaders, including former German chancellor Angela Merkel, and supports Israel. Another coalition MP, Dr Kelvin Yii, raised similar questions about the security of other apps that people use every day. He said he did not dispute that security issues were possible but that people wanted a detailed explanation of why the decision was made and whether they were exposed too.

The move comes amid wider concern over how Israeli technology is used, including reports of AI-driven surveillance of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.