Malaysia wants to move away from Waze. Will drivers make the switch?

Malaysia has banned the popular Israeli navigation app for civil servants and urged citizens not to use it. Motorists say they lack a viable homegrown alternative.

A person uses the Waze navigation app on a mobile phone on Oct 28, 2026. The Malaysian government has reportedly banned civil servants from using the app over its alleged links to Israel. (Photo: CNA/Fadza Ishak)

Rashvinjeet S Bedi 01 Nov 2026 06:00AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST KUALA LUMPUR: Last week, Malaysian taxi driver Mohamed Aidil gave TuJu, the country’s homegrown highway navigation app, a try.

He had heeded a call by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for citizens not to use the popular community-driven navigation app Waze, citing data security risks and its compliance with Israeli data laws.

Less than 24 hours later, however, Aidil, 38, had uninstalled TuJu and reverted to Waze.

“Many destinations were missing while some directions seemed (to be) not making sense," Aidil said about TuJu, which was developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority.

Aidil is not the only motorist finding it difficult to part ways with Waze, the app used by millions in Malaysia even amid renewed scrutiny over its ties to Israel.

E-hailing driver P. Vishovartan relies on ride-hailing app Grab’s built-in navigation map while ferrying passengers, but defaults to Waze for his personal driving, especially when he goes back to his hometown of Penang.

"Waze is the most accurate when it comes to estimated travel times and toll costs," said Vishovartan. It is also the best at finding alternative routes in the event of heavy traffic, he said.

While Vishovartan strongly condemns Israel’s military actions in Gaza and other places, he admitted it is difficult to stop using Waze at the moment because of its real-time incident and accident updates.

Malaysia on Oct 20 banned its civil servants from using Waze, citing concerns over sensitive government information and personal data. The directive covers both their official working hours and personal time.

“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,” said a Prime Minister’s Office statement on Oct 21.