A MP recently made the call for an open tender to develop a new local navigation application as an alternative to Waze, saying the government should replace what he described as the failed TuJu app.
While the specific action against Waze is tied to its incorporation under Israeli law and geopolitical dynamics, apps like Grab, Airbnb, and other modern platforms frequently collect and share an even broader footprint of highly sensitive personal information.
NACSA singled out Waze specifically because its legal entity, Waze Mobile Ltd., operates under Israeli jurisdiction.
What about personal data from ride-hailing and booking applications, Telekom, TNB, National Registration Department, just to name a few?
Just because they are not tied to Israeli laws doesn’t mean they are not posing a threat to the country’s data soverignty.
Apps like Grab, Airbnb, and other modern platforms frequently collect and share an even broader footprint of highly sensitive personal information face the exact same threat of cyberespionage or marketplace leaks.
From a cybersecurity perspective, there are no absolute regional or geographic barriers that prevent hackers from Israel—or any other nation—from attempting to breach these platforms.
Commercial applications like Grab, Airbnb, and various automotive apps remain constant targets for global cyberespionage and independent hacking collectives due to the nature of their systems.
And importantly and one overlooked fact that the government overlooked when it ordered civil servants to stop using Waze.
Many regional ride-hailing and logistics apps historically utilized mapping infrastructure, routing algorithms, or traffic data feeds connected to major global networks (including Waze/Google systems).
Waze is not a software.
It is the ecosystem that made it work.
Trying to replicate and build a local alternative to Waze is like governments trying to compete and build parallel manufacturing capabilities to manufacturers in China. Governments elsewhere cannot replicate the ecosystem that features prominently in the manufacturing processes in China.
Both Waze and China's manufacturing sector rely on unique, self-reinforcing flywheels that cannot simply be duplicated by throwing capital or political will at a standalone alternative.
A government backed navigation apps usually mandate usage or rely on tax Ringgit for it to be sustainable.
These artificial supports rarely foster the agility needed to compete with ecosystems optimized by pure market demand and relentless iteration.
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