Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advises abandoning Waze — Channel NewsAsia

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advised the country’s citizens not to use the Waze navigation app due to concerns over the security of citizens’ data. As Channel NewsAsia reports, he expressed this position after a meeting of the National Cyber Security Committee in Kuala Lumpur.

Data concerns

Ibrahim said on Facebook that Waze is subject to Israeli laws. The committee meeting discussed the potential risk of using the app to monitor the data of Malaysian citizens. The prime minister stressed that the authorities cannot compromise on data and identity protection.

In light of these concerns, he suggested that Malaysians switch to Tuju, an app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority.

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Malaysia’s digital security

The National Cyber Security Committee also reviewed the development of cyberthreats, the protection of the national digital identity platform MyDigital ID, and new risks associated with autonomous artificial intelligence. According to Ibrahim, the government is strengthening the integrated identification system: MyKad is to remain a physical identification document, while MyDigital ID is to be a tool for digital operations protected by additional cybersecurity measures.

Waze was launched in 2009 as the open-source FreeMap Israel project. In 2013, Google acquired the app for $1 billion.