Malaysia may completely ban Waze if alternative navigation apps available, says PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR – The government is not ruling out the possibility of completely banning the use of the Waze navigation app in Malaysia, said Anwar Ibrahim.The Malaysian Prime Minister also urged Waze users not to jeopardise the country’s security because they want the comfort of an Israeli app.He added that the free Global Positioning System navigation app could possibly be used for foreign intelligence operations as it was not only based in Israel but also bound by Israeli law.Anwar was responding to the public reaction on his recent ban on civil servants using the Waze app.“If the issue concerns national security, then it must be taken seriously. How can civil servants compromise on this? Just because some local alternatives are not fully developed, does that mean we should hand over information to Israel? That is what concerns me.“I checked on Waze during our cybersecurity meeting two or three days ago. I asked them to investigate and review the agreement,” he told the media after performing Friday prayers in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur on Oct 23.“This is a matter of national security. Firstly, its headquarters is based in Israel.“Secondly, under the terms and conditions, if you use Waze and a problem arises, the law that determines the outcome is Israeli law. It is not subject to the laws of other countries. That is why I took action rather spontaneously,” he said.Anwar added that there had been calls for patience, but it had already been investigated and confirmed.“If you use the Waze app, it automatically hands over all information to Israel. So we must not make that mistake,” said Anwar.He also called on Malaysians to be patient and use other navigation apps until the locally developed TuJu app is completely ready.“When I received confirmation from the (Malaysian) Highway Authority that TuJu was suitable, it turned out that it was not fully developed yet. So now, as Malaysia’s Digital Minister Gobind Singh also explained in Parliament, we should use any other alternative that is based in Malaysia.“Even if it is not as sophisticated, that is fine. We can improve it.“It is better to be safe than to hand over confidential information about the state, your personal information, and our country’s information to Israel. That is what matters to us,” said Anwar.He said that although he had been criticised and condemned for acting hastily and rashly, national security was more important.“We are among the countries that strongly oppose the cruel Zionist Israeli regime. Naturally, our actions will be monitored. I believe that, from now on, all their influence will be used against us. The people need to understand.“Although I know TuJu has its shortcomings, use other alternatives for the time being. Please be patient. Find another way. Even if the journey is a little longer, that is acceptable, rather than handing over information to Israel.“We need to study what alternatives are available. This is a matter of national security. Imagine this: there are many companies that have links with Israel, including American, French, and other companies.“But, as far as we have been able to determine, none of them are both headquartered in Israel and subject to Israeli law. It is strange that people are still insisting on making this point,” said Anwar.Anwar recently urged Malaysians to use TuJu instead of Waze because of concerns that navigation apps could expose people’s movement data to foreign authorities but the local app was unable to cope with the sudden surge.