Malaysia has banned civil servants from using Alphabet's navigation app Waze after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said its Israeli origins raised 'security concerns.'
Muslim-majority Malaysia is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered the ban "to protect government information and users' personal data from the threat of misuse by the Israeli regime," his office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Waze's parent company Google and the Israeli embassy in Singapore did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
A day earlier, Anwar said that the government was looking into potential security risks arising from the use of Waze, which he said "was bound to Israeli laws."
"We cannot compromise on the security of people's data and identities," he said in a Facebook post after chairing a national cybersecurity committee meeting.
Anwar did not provide any details of the risks but recommended the use of TuJu, a domestic mapping app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, as an alternative.
Malaysia chief government secretary issues letter barring Waze
Malaysia's Chief Secretary to the Government, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, said all civil servants would now be barred from using Waze, according to a letter dated Tuesday addressed to the heads of government agencies.
The letter, reviewed by Reuters, said the directive followed a decision taken at the meeting chaired by Anwar, with the prohibition to take effect immediately.
An official with the Prime Minister's Department confirmed the letter's authenticity.
Waze, which was founded in Israel, uses satellite signals and crowd-sourced data from drivers to offer real-time traffic information. It was acquired by Alphabet-owned Google in 2013 for about $1 billion.