The ex-minister questions the basis of banning the app completely, saying nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not done so.
Former minister Yeo Bee Yin asked if Putrajaya has engaged Waze’s US-based parent company to explore hosting Malaysian data on local servers instead of banning the app outright.
PETALING JAYA: Former minister Yeo Bee Yin has urged the government to consult industry experts and navigation technology specialists before moving to ban the use of popular navigation app Waze.
The DAP publicity secretary said such a policy decision must not be made in haste as it would affect six million Malaysian road users who depend on Waze, whether for their livelihoods, daily commutes or logistics.
Acknowledging concerns over the app’s Israeli origins, Yeo questioned why nations under the Gulf Cooperation Council have yet to implement similar bans.
“Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar have not banned Waze. Yet these nations are located in immediate geographic proximity to the conflict and maintain strict national security protocols.
“A reactionary ban risks unnecessary public disruption, economic friction for the gig economy, and reputational damage to Malaysia’s digital landscape.
“We urge the National Security Council (MKN) to consult industry experts, navigation technology specialists and the relevant stakeholders transparently before deciding on the way forward,” she said in a statement.
Yeo also asked if Putrajaya has engaged Waze’s US-based parent company, Alphabet, to explore hosting Malaysian data on local servers instead of banning the app outright.
While acknowledging the availability of alternatives like Google Maps, the Puchong MP said commuters commonly reference multiple apps to optimally plan their journeys.
Yeo also scoffed at using TuJu as a Waze replacement, questioning whether the government was being realistic.
“Does the government realistically expect a statutory body like the Malaysian Highway Authority to build, optimise, and maintain a crowd-sourced navigation platform capable of matching global tech giants?
“Developing dynamic routing algorithms and maintaining low-latency map data require a massive scale, continuous machine-learning optimisation, and dedicated engineering capacity.
“Even in South Korea — where the Geospatial Information Management Act restricts full offshore hosting for Google Maps and Waze — viable local alternatives like Naver Map and KakaoMap were built and scaled by multibillion-dollar domestic tech conglomerates, not government agencies,” she added.
The government has banned the use of Waze by civil servants and is considering imposing a complete ban.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had said this was to prevent Israel from misusing government information and users’ personal data, urging the public to switch to local alternatives such as TuJu.
TuJu has however come under criticism from users while tech experts said the locally developed app still raises privacy concerns. - FMT
On April 21, 2018, the threat of foreign espionage on Malaysian soil turned fatal.
Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, a Palestinian lecturer and drone specialist, was gunned down in Setapak by two assassins who had tracked his movements. The hit bore all the hallmarks of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.
For Malaysia’s National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa), this assassination remains a chilling reminder of why the nation must stay vigilant against foreign intelligence operations.
Yet, until very recently, a massive vulnerability remained completely unaddressed, sitting quietly in the pockets of our nation’s leaders – Waze.
The chief secretary to the government’s immediate directive banning civil servants from using Waze represents a massive, long-overdue milestone in digital sovereignty.
While ordinary citizens use navigation apps without a second thought, the technology poses a distinct national security risk for individuals holding strategic government, military or intelligence positions.
For Malaysia’s strategic leaders, deleting Waze is no longer a matter of personal convenience – it is a non-negotiable imperative of national defence.
Who controls the data?
To understand the risk, one must look at who controls the telemetry data.
Although Google purchased Waze in 2013, the legal entity operating the app remains Waze Mobile Ltd, which is registered and incorporated in Israel.
Waze’s terms of service explicitly state that the platform is governed solely by the laws of the state of Israel. Under Israeli national security laws, authorities can legally compel Israeli-registered entities to hand over data trails in the interest of state security.
Furthermore, Waze’s history is deeply intertwined with Israel’s military apparatus. Co-founder Uri Levine is a veteran of Unit 8200, Israel’s elite military cyber-intelligence unit.
With Israel’s commercial tech sector heavily staffed by cyber-warfare veterans, European nations like Germany, Switzerland and France, alongside key Middle Eastern states, refuse to gamble their digital sovereignty on such a high-risk data pipeline.
Malaysia is right to follow their blueprint for protective governance.
By design, Waze continuously logs highly invasive information, including real-time GPS locations, exact travel history and background location data even when the app is closed. Advanced artificial intelligence can easily process this granular data to build highly specific movement profiles.
For a high-ranking Malaysian official, using Waze means outsourcing their daily routine, secure meeting locations and personal vulnerabilities to an entity governed by a foreign power.
The ClearPhish leak
If geopolitical risks feel abstract, the immediate cyber threats are undeniably concrete.
Cyber technology firm ClearPhish recently revealed that a database containing the records of over 7.6 million Waze users is being advertised for sale on a dark web marketplace by cybercriminals. The leaked information includes usernames, unique IDs, real-time GPS coordinates, and full travel histories.
This massive leak proves that user data is never entirely secure. In the hands of bad actors, this data can be used to map routines, launch targeted cyberattacks, or facilitate physical stalking.
When millions of users are exposed globally, relying on foreign proprietary platforms for state transit becomes a gamble Malaysia cannot afford.
Navigating the local alternatives
Securing our national transit does not mean driving blind. The government has aggressively pushed for the adoption of TuJu, a locally developed navigation application created by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and Prosignal Consortium.
Because TuJu keeps traffic data domestic, it eliminates the threat of foreign legal intervention.
Admittedly, the sudden surge of users following the ban caused TuJu’s infrastructure to experience technical disruptions, prompting a public apology and optimisation promises from LLM.
While the app undergoes growing pains to map city roads as effectively as highways, it remains a vital step forward.
For officials requiring immediate, flawless global mapping or hyper-specialised privacy frameworks, open-source architectures offer airtight backups. Applications like Organic Maps operate 100% offline with zero trackers, no data collection, and no server-side profiling.
Similarly, OsmAnd allows for local route computation and completely self-contained navigation built on community-vetted OpenStreetMap data layers, entirely bypassing corporate or state surveillance architectures.
Enforcing the digital perimeter
Enforcing this shift requires more than just voluntary compliance; it demands strict, centralised technical execution by government IT and cybersecurity teams. To plug this leak entirely, government agencies must deploy comprehensive mobile device management (MDM) profiles across all state-issued smartphones to centrally blacklist and auto-uninstall Waze.
Furthermore, government network administrators must implement strict DNS filtering and firewall blocks on secure public-sector Wi-Fi networks, cutting off telemetry to Waze’s backend API servers entirely. Combined with application control policies on secure endpoints, these measures transition the policy from a simple guideline into an ironclad digital perimeter.
When a leaked database can expose millions, and foreign laws can compel the surrender of live location feeds, the choice for Malaysia’s leadership is clear.
Convenience cannot trump national sovereignty. Enforcing a strict digital perimeter – beginning with the immediate removal of Waze from every official device – is not a matter of lifestyle preference.
It represents a vital, immediate act of national security and digital defence. - FMT
Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT
The government shouldn't take away Malaysians' choices without a very good reason. So far, we haven't been given one.
From S Murugesan
Last night, I used Waze to find a Japanese restaurant in Bukit Jalil. According to Putrajaya, I may have just put national security at risk.
Let me explain how we got here.
First, the government banned civil servants from using Waze. A circular from the Prime Minister’s Department cited the app’s links to Israel and data security concerns.
Like most Malaysians, I read the news with some amusement and went about my work. It didn’t affect me. What the government wants its employees to do is its business, as long as it doesn’t affect my life.
To be fair, I can accept the security argument. It’s a known fact that data is mined from apps and social media platforms. Information about civil servants in key positions is sensitive, and I can understand the government being cautious.
Ban it for civil servants? Fine. Encourage Malaysians to use TuJu, our very own navigation app? Still fine. Nothing wrong with promoting local services.
Then the prime minister said the government may ban Waze completely for everyone.
A day later, digital minister Gobind Singh Deo said the ban applies only to civil servants on official duty. So which is it? If even the Cabinet cannot agree on how far this goes, ordinary Malaysians can be forgiven for being confused.
Let me be clear. Banning Waze for all of us would be overreach. The government shouldn’t take away Malaysians’ choices without a very good reason. So far, we haven’t been given one.
Where is the evidence?
If the reason is security, kindly explain, in basic terms, how my using Waze to find a restaurant endangers the nation. I am already fully exposed on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, X and TikTok. What is one more app?
Waze, for its part, has publicly rejected the government’s data security claims. If the government has evidence otherwise, please share it. Malaysians can handle the facts.
Why only Waze?
If Waze poses a special threat, tell us why it’s being singled out. If the only issue is where the app was founded, then we’re on a slippery slope.
Waze has been owned by Google since 2013. My data sits with the same company that runs Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail, and the Android system on most Malaysian phones.
Do we ban those next? Where does it stop?
Is TuJu any safer?
Here is the irony. If spyware like Pegasus, made by Israel’s NSO Group, could break into iPhones, how long would it take a determined hacker to break into TuJu?
As an ordinary Malaysian, I would be more worried about my personal information in TuJu than in Waze.
If Waze can misuse my personal data, what is stopping TuJu from doing the same? Who runs TuJu? Who can see my data? Where is it stored?
These are fair questions. Answer them, and TuJu earns our trust. Ignore them, and no ban will fix that.
Let TuJu win on its own
If the real aim is to promote TuJu, the calculation is wrong. People resent being deprived of a choice, especially when they get little in return. Even Gobind told civil servants that if TuJu disappoints, they can use other apps, just not Waze. That is hardly a vote of confidence.
Look, I am happy that we now have our very own navigation app. I will try it. Just let me try it without restricting access to other apps. If, in due time, TuJu turns out to be more user-friendly and caters to my needs, I will use it, without the government pushing it down my throat. Take away my options, and I will resent it.
Competition will make TuJu better. A ban will only build resentment that might show in the next general election.
Build a better app, and Malaysians will find their way to it. No circular required. - FMT
S Murugesan is a lawyer and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT
