Protecting Israelis, Google Maps And Waze Turn Off Their Direct Traffic Data

JAKARTA - Google and Waze are trying to keep Israel safe by turning off their traffic alerts according to a report by 9to5google. This change was implemented after the war between Israel and Hamas became increasingly heated.

Google took the leading step by disabling their website and application-based mapping service, namely Maps. They disable traffic alerts and turn off live traffic data.

Apart from Google Maps, the Waze feature has also been turned off. Waze confirmed on their device via a pop-up that said, “Due to the security situation, other drivers, traffic jams, traffic reports and other alerts will not be displayed.”

Even though these two applications are taking leading steps to protect their residents, Waze is reportedly still operating in some areas of Israel, while Maps is not functioning completely in all areas.

Speaking to GeekTime, Google and Waze stated that the disabling of their features is temporary. However, they did not explain when exactly they would restore the system again.

This is not the first time this feature has been disabled on Maps. Google did something similar when Russia attacked Ukraine last year and for the same reason, namely protecting the security of the population.

At that time, Google quickly disabled live traffic data in Maps. This action is the right step to take to avoid unexpected attacks.

If this feature is not turned off, data showing crowds in several areas may be misused for war, such as creating attack targets in new locations.