Malaysia banned Waze for civil servants over Israel links. Drivers tried the local TuJu app, and many went straight back

Is Waze banned in Malaysia? For civil servants, yes. Malaysia barred its civil servants from using the Waze navigation app on 20 October, during both working hours and personal time, citing concerns over sensitive government information and personal data, CNA reported. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has also urged ordinary Malaysians to stop using it, pointing to data security risks and the app's compliance with Israeli data laws.

The problem is what to use instead. Malaysia's homegrown highway app, TuJu, has been downloaded more than half a million times since the call, but many drivers who tried it say it is not ready. One taxi driver uninstalled it within 24 hours; an automotive analyst said it could not even find Putrajaya, the country's administrative capital. The Waze row has become a test of whether politics can override the convenience of an app used by millions every day.

Why Malaysia turned against Waze

"Sensitive government information and the personal data of citizens must be protected from exploitation by the Israeli regime in ways that could undermine national security and sovereignty," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on 21 October. Malaysia has no diplomatic ties with Israel and is a longtime advocate of the Palestinian cause, and public anger over the war in Gaza has fuelled boycotts of brands seen as linked to Israel.

Waze began in 2006 as an open source project called FreeMap Israel and was bought by Google for more than 1 billion dollars in 2013. It is still operated by Waze Mobile, which is based in Tel Aviv, according to its privacy policy. Waze has rejected allegations that it collects sensitive government information or allows users' personal data to be exploited.

National Security Council director general Raja Nushirwan Zainal Abidin was quoted by Bernama as saying any breach of the directive carried "disciplinary implications". But one civil servant told CNA she and her colleagues had not yet been briefed. "Do we surrender our phones to our bosses?" she asked.

The move fits a wider pattern of consumer boycotts in Malaysia since the Gaza war began, which have hit Western fast food and coffee chains. What is different here is that the government itself has acted, turning a consumer choice into an official directive for its large public sector workforce, and raising questions about how far such rules might extend.

Drivers try TuJu, and many go back

Taxi driver Mohamed Aidil, 38, heeded Anwar's call and tried TuJu, developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority. Less than 24 hours later he had uninstalled it and returned to Waze. "Many destinations were missing while some directions seemed not making sense," he said. "It just isn't good and convenient enough to be used at the moment."

Automotive analyst Hezeri Samsuri, managing editor of Careta Media, had a similar experience. "I downloaded TuJu myself, and it couldn't even locate Putrajaya," he said, adding that any alternative must be fully functional before being publicly championed. On Threads, many users complained of frequent system failures and a lack of user friendly features.

The highway authority says TuJu was never meant to replace Waze. Its chairman, Hasni Mohammad, told Malaysiakini the app was built to improve services along tolled highways. "Perhaps 10 or 15 years from now, yes, we could expand to federal roads, municipal roads and village roads. But for now, the focus is solely on tolled highways," he said.

Governments can ban an app in an afternoon. Building one that drivers trust takes years, and Malaysia has just discovered the gap between the two.

Why Waze is so hard to give up

Waze's strength is its community. Drivers report accidents, police roadblocks, speed cameras and traffic jams in real time, which makes travel time estimates and alternative routes unusually accurate in congested cities such as Kuala Lumpur. Reports dating back to 2017 identified Malaysia as one of Asia's most dominant Waze markets, with six million monthly active users, 2.5 million of them in greater Kuala Lumpur.

Ride hailing driver P. Vishovartan uses Grab's built in map at work but defaults to Waze for personal trips, especially to his hometown of Penang. "Waze is the most accurate when it comes to estimated travel times and toll costs," he said. He strongly condemns Israel's military actions, but said it is hard to stop using Waze because of its real time incident updates.

Lawyer Suzanna Norlihan, who boycotts brands with ties to the Israeli military, said she saw no concrete evidence that Waze directly funded or took part in the conflict. "I need it and just cannot live without it," she said. Masrizal Mahidin, president of the Malaysia E-Hailing and Delivery Organisation, said Waze remains the preferred app of most e-hailing riders, while delivery riders often use Google Maps.

The data security argument, examined

Cybersecurity experts say the risks are not unique to Waze. "All these applications have the ability to access our location and to remember our routes travelled and our activities," said Fong Choong Fook, executive chairman of cybersecurity firm LGMS, adding that many social media apps have similar or more intrusive tracking. Banning Waze without a reliable replacement may be too hasty, he said.

Former Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor Sukudhew Singh questioned the logic in a LinkedIn post, asking whether civil servants should also be barred from American software platforms, or from Chinese apps and hardware. "The government should apply consistent, evidence based standards to national data security, regardless of company nationality," he wrote. The main options in the navigation market now include:

• Waze, still the favourite for real time traffic and incident reports
• Google Maps, popular with delivery riders making multiple stops
• Grab Maps, built into the ride hailing app
• TuJu, the highway authority's app focused on tolled roads
• Pintaz and China's Amap, tried by some drivers switching away

Some motorists point to South Korea, where strict geospatial data rules historically limited foreign mapping services and local apps such as KakaoMap filled the gap. But that took years of investment, and Korea's local apps were commercially built, not state projects.

What happens next

Anwar has acknowledged the limits. He said on 24 October that any decision on a blanket ban on Waze would be made after assessing whether existing alternatives had sufficient capabilities, Malay Mail reported. That suggests a full public ban is unlikely until TuJu or another local app improves significantly. A blanket ban would also sit awkwardly with Malaysia's efforts to court foreign companies and skilled workers, as covered in our report on Malaysia letting expat spouses work from 2027.

For Malaysia, the episode shows the difficulty of digital sovereignty in practice. Governments across Southeast Asia are tightening rules on data, from banking to transport, as covered in our report on the Amadeus breach that hit Malaysia Airlines. But as long as foreign apps work better, citizens will keep using them, ban or no ban.

Malaysia's Waze ban for civil servants is a political statement backed by a data security argument, but drivers have quickly found the limits of the homegrown alternative. Until TuJu or another local app can match Waze's real time traffic data, a wider ban looks unlikely, and millions of Malaysians will keep using the app their government wants them to quit.