Malaysia PM Anwar Warns Against Waze Over Israeli Data Risks — SkimNews
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- Anwar Ibrahim advised Malaysians against using Waze in a Facebook post, warning the app is subject to Israeli government laws and could be used to monitor citizens' data
- Anwar suggested switching to Tuju, an app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, after chairing a meeting of the National Cyber Security Committee (JKSN) that reviewed cyber threats
- Waze was launched in 2009 as an open-source project called FreeMap Israel and acquired by Google in 2013 for $1 billion
- Iraq is planning to block Waze by the end of December, with its communications minister citing the same data security concerns and the app's Israeli origin, according to Al Jazeera
- The JKSN meeting also addressed security of Malaysia's MyDigital ID platform and emerging threats from autonomous AI, with Anwar announcing strengthened integration between MyKad and MyDigital ID
- Malaysia and Iraq are among Arab and Muslim-majority countries that do not formally recognize Israel, providing geopolitical context for the app's rejection
Why it matters: The Malaysian government's public warning gives Waze's Israeli-linked data infrastructure an official national-security label, directly steering users toward a state-developed alternative (Tuju) and accelerating a regional pattern — Iraq plans its own Waze ban by year's end — that pressures the app's roughly 30-million-strong regional user base.
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