Malaysia bars civil servants from using the mobile navigation app Waze, citing security concerns. Multiple outlets say the move applies across government departments and is effective immediately, framed as protecting user location data.
Outlets attribute the decision to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and government cybersecurity-related deliberations. South China Morning Post and Channel NewsAsia specify that the policy is linked to warning statements by Anwar and decisions following a National Cyber Security Committee meeting chaired by him, with an official circular issued afterward. Other outlets also stress that Waze is Israel-based or Israel-linked, without adding further procedural detail.
Several stories add an alternative: Anwar advises switching to Tuju (TuJu/Tuju), a navigation app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority. Differences in coverage mainly involve how much detail outlets provide about the internal decision-making process and whether they emphasise the app’s ties to Israel or the risk of monitoring Malaysian citizens’ data. Despite those nuances, all sources report a ban for civil servants and justify it on security grounds.
