Why has Iraq decided to ban online map service Waze?

Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad announced the move on Tuesday. It has prompted discussions in Iraq over whether the country can build its own alternative and whether banning one app protects users’ location data.

The Ministry of Communications plans to block the use of Waze by the end of December, according to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada.

Sanad told the broadcaster Rudaw that it would take effect some time at the start of 2027.

He made the announcement on the sidelines of the Hitex 2026 technology exhibition in Erbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

“Because it comes from the entity [Israel] and is Israeli-made, we will ban it at the beginning of 2027,” he said.

Waze is a widely used navigation app. Hundreds of motorists, including taxi drivers, use it to get around. The service relies on users to report traffic jams, accidents and police checkpoints as they happen.

It was developed in Israel, and Google bought it in 2013 for nearly $1bn.

Pooled across many users over time, such data have security value because they can reveal movement patterns, peak times and unusual changes.

Rudaw reported that the app has been the subject of security discussions in Iraq over its alerts being used to avoid checkpoints although Sanad did not link the ban to that issue.

Iraq does not recognise Israel or have diplomatic relations with it and has formally been at war with it since 1948.

A 2022 law criminalises any diplomatic, political, military, economic or cultural ties with Israel. Its penalties include life imprisonment and the death penalty. It was passed by 275 votes in the 329-seat Council of Representatives.

The law applies to all Iraqi citizens, state institutions and media as well as private companies and foreign entities operating in the country, including the Kurdish region.

Distrust of Israel has been bolstered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The United States and its allies have targeted Iraq’s Iran-aligned militias with air strikes and economic measures.

During the war, Iraq also faced a serious case of Israeli infiltration. In May, US media reported that Israel had built two secret military outposts deep inside Iraq’s desert to support its war on Iran.

One post was nearly exposed by a local shepherd who stumbled upon it and was killed.

Sanad said users could switch to Google Maps or Iraqi navigation apps.

Communications Ministry spokesman Omar al-Amiri said in remarks carried by Al-Mada that Waze would be replaced by a yet-to-be-named Iraqi app.

He said the app would run without technical problems.

Al-Mada also quoted Iraqi technology researcher Mustafa Kamel al-Sharif as saying a national alternative would take more than an app with an Iraqi map and logo.

It would need accurate geographic databases, a constantly updated road network, routing systems and live data on traffic, accidents and closures, he said.

He also told the newspaper that the crux of the issue lies in how Iraq regulates its citizens’ data and other services may also collect sensitive data similar to Waze.

The ministry has not said how the block will be enforced or whether it will cover the Kurdish region. It has also not set out the ban’s legal basis or said when the Iraqi app will launch.

Another unknown is why Google Maps, owned by the same parent company, Alphabet, would remain available or serve as an alternative.

The government has also not answered why Waze is being banned now when its Israeli roots have been long known.