{
  "id": 16314402,
  "title": "The dashboard spy: inside Malaysia’s Waze ban",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/the-dashboard-spy-inside-malaysias-waze-ban",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T09:45:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2026/10/24/the-dashboard-spy-inside-malaysia-s-waze-ban"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On April 21, 2018, a Palestinian lecturer and drone specialist named Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh was killed in Malaysia. Investigators discovered that the killers had monitored his movements, which led to the assassination being seen as a possible Mossad operation. This event prompted the Malaysian National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) to take action, leading to a directive banning civil servants from using the Waze navigation app. This move is seen as a significant step towards digital sovereignty, as navigation apps pose a security risk for individuals with access to strategic information. Waze, originally developed in Israel, collects extensive data which can be accessed by foreign authorities, posing a threat to national security. The data has even been leaked to dark web markets, putting users at risk of targeted attacks and stalking. As a solution, Malaysia has developed its own navigation app called TuJu, which is designed to keep data within the country. While there may be some initial technical issues, this step is seen as a significant move towards improving digital security. Until this app is fully operational, officials are advised to use open-source alternatives that do not collect data or rely on foreign servers. This requires strong enforcement from government IT and cybersecurity teams, including the use of mobile device management profiles to prevent the use of Waze on government-issued devices. For Malaysia, the decision to ban Waze was not made lightly, but rather as a necessary action to protect national security and sovereignty.",
  "summary": "Convenience cannot trump national sovereignty.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}