Malaysia bans civil servants from using Waze over security concerns

Malaysia's civil service has been instructed to cease use of Waze, the navigation application owned by Israeli technology company Google, effective immediately. The ban applies across all government agencies and is rooted in concerns over data security and the tracking of government employee movements, according to officials in Putrajaya.

The prohibition represents a significant shift in how Malaysia's public sector manages digital tools and reflects heightened sensitivity around data sovereignty and privacy. Government sources indicated that the use of foreign-controlled navigation applications poses potential risks to operational security and the confidentiality of official movements and activities.

In response to the ban, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has championed a domestically developed navigation application as an alternative. The push to adopt local technology solutions aligns with broader Malaysian government initiatives to reduce reliance on foreign digital infrastructure and boost the domestic technology sector.

The move comes as regional governments increasingly scrutinize the security implications of widely-used applications and their data collection practices. Malaysia joins other nations in reassessing which foreign-owned applications are permitted for sensitive government use, particularly those with ties to foreign corporations.