Malaysia May Widen Ban on Israel-Based Waze Traffic App, PM Says

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia’s security cannot be compromised as he held fast on the government’s partial ban of Google’s navigation app Waze and said authorities aren’t ruling out even wider restrictions.

The Southeast Asian country this week barred civil servants from using Waze for official duties, citing security concerns over the app’s ties to Israel. Anwar said the curbs are intended to safeguard government information and users’ personal data from the threat of misuse by the Israeli government, adding that a complete ban could be considered once viable alternatives are available.

“I apologize if the decision to ban this navigation application, which belongs to the Israeli regime, causes inconvenience to the public,” he said in Facebook posts on Friday. “However, the security of the nation and its people cannot be compromised, as we must uphold national sovereignty and protect the personal information of our citizens.”

Waze pushed back against claims that it collects sensitive government information or allows any entity to exploit personal user data, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a company spokesperson. They are “completely false,” Waze told AFP, adding it operates under strict privacy policies and global data-protection standards.

Founded and based in Israel and acquired by Google in 2013, Waze is widely used by Malaysian drivers for real-time, crowdsourced updates on congestion, accidents, speed traps and alternative routes.

Anwar has encouraged Malaysians to consider alternatives including locally developed TuJu, though the app has drawn ridicule from users over unreliable directions, a lack of real-time traffic information and glitches that make it difficult to use. The Malaysian Highway Authority, which operates TuJu, apologized for disruptions following a sudden surge of users and said it expects to restore stable navigation services within two weeks.

Anwar said he believes the controversy among users is over the reliability of alternatives to Waze, rather than the government’s ban of the app itself.