By Hamza Faisal

Malaysia has barred its civil servants from using Waze, the Google-owned navigation app, after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the app's Israeli origins raised security concerns. The ban took effect immediately.

The directive came in a letter dated Tuesday from Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar to the heads of all government agencies, following a meeting of the national cybersecurity committee chaired by Anwar, Reuters reported. An official with the Prime Minister's Department confirmed the letter's authenticity.

An immediate ban after the cybersecurity meeting

Anwar said the government was examining potential security risks arising from the use of Waze, which he described as "bound to Israeli laws." "We cannot compromise on the security of people's data and identities," he said in a Facebook post after chairing the National Cyber Security Committee meeting.

According to the South China Morning Post, Anwar told the committee the government was reviewing risks linked to the information and movement data of Malaysian Waze users, given that the app falls exclusively under Israeli jurisdiction. The discussion sat alongside broader briefings on post-quantum cryptography and autonomous artificial intelligence threats.

The circular instructed ministry secretaries-general and heads of department to communicate the decision to every officer under their supervision, "for immediate implementation."

Why the government is pointing at Waze

Waze began as FreeMap Israel, a community project founded in Israel, and was acquired by Google — now Alphabet — in 2013 for about $1 billion. It remains headquartered in Tel Aviv and its terms of service place its operations under Israeli law.

The app uses satellite signals and crowd-sourced reports from drivers to deliver real-time traffic and navigation data — which means it continuously collects precise location and movement data from its users. That data collection is at the heart of the government's stated concern.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

TuJu takes the wheel — and analysts are skeptical

Anwar recommended TuJu, a domestic mapping app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, as the alternative for government employees.

Whether the ban achieves its security aim is another question. Benjamin Loh, a communication and media studies lecturer at Monash University Malaysia, told the South China Morning Post that the ban was unlikely to do much to stop any potential cyberthreat outlined by the prime minister. Google, which handles media inquiries for Waze, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move puts Malaysia among a small number of governments to restrict a major consumer navigation app on stated national-security grounds — and turns the country's official vehicles into a live test of its homegrown mapping alternative.

By Hamza Faisal