Malaysia restricts Waze use for civil servants over security concerns

The Malaysian government has prohibited civil servants from using the Waze navigation app while on official duty, citing national security and data privacy concerns. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil stated that the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) raised alarms regarding the collection and processing of user data in Israel, as well as the fact that legal disputes involving the app would be subject to Israeli jurisdiction.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim indicated that a complete ban on Waze could be considered if local navigation alternatives are deemed adequate. He emphasized that national security must take precedence over convenience, questioning the risks of handing information to Israel. Following the directive, the local navigation app Tuju saw a surge of over 700,000 downloads, although some users have reported technical issues with the service.

In response to the Waze restriction, the group BDS Malaysia has urged the government to also terminate all contracts with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The organization claims AWS is involved in Project Nimbus, a cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, and argues that hosting Malaysian government data with AWS poses a similar threat to national sovereignty.