Locally developed navigation apps should be subjected to the same cybersecurity scrutiny as their foreign counterparts to ensure they can protect user data, tech experts say, amid the government's push of the local TuJu app over Waze.

At the same time, they challenged the government's rationale for banning Waze for civil servants because apps such as Google Maps, whose parent company Google bought Waze in 2013, also collect similar information from their users.

Experts cautioned that Malaysian-developed applications should not automatically be considered safer than foreign competitors, stressing that all should be assessed against the same cybersecurity standards.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently touted TuJu as an alternative to Waze due to national security concerns over the latter’s Israeli roots, but TuJu soon faced complaints over technical glitches and navigation shortcomings following a surge in users, which Anwar acknowledged after overwhelming public feedback.