Malaysia bans civil servants from using mapping app Waze, citing links to Israel
Malaysia has immediately barred civil servants from using Alphabet's Waze, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim citing security concerns related to the app's Israeli origins. He recommended the domestic TuJu mapping app as an alternative.
1. Immediate prohibition
Malaysia's Chief Secretary to the Government, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, said civil servants are barred from using Waze under a directive following a national cybersecurity committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar said the government was looking into potential security risks and that it could not compromise on people's data and identities, but did not detail the risks.
2. TuJu recommended
Anwar recommended TuJu, a domestic mapping app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, as an alternative. Waze was founded in Israel and acquired by Alphabet-owned Google in 2013 for about $1 billion.
