Waze shows you as a cartoon avatar on the map. Cute. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara watched those avatars and tracked individual users. They figured out where people lived -- the avatar stops at the same place every night. They mapped daily commutes, work locations, shopping habits. All from watching cartoon icons on a public map. You can set yourself to "invisible." That hides you from other users. Waze and Google still track you. The cartoon disappears. The surveillance doesn't. Waze lets you report police locations. The NYPD demanded the feature be removed, calling it a threat to officer safety. But the feature works both ways: researchers showed that police reporting data could identify which users are monitoring police activity. The app that helps you avoid speed traps also reveals that you're avoiding speed traps. Meanwhile, Waze shares traffic data with city governments through its Connected Citizens Program. Waze is a surveillance tool that works in every direction -- users watching police, police watching users, cities watching everyone.
What they claim: Waze states its social features are designed to "build community" and help drivers share road information while maintaining user privacy.
What we found: University of California Santa Barbara researchers demonstrated they could track individual Waze users and determine their real identities through the app's social features. By monitoring the position of Waze avatars on the map over time, researchers reconstructed users' commute patterns, identified their home locations (where the avatar appeared each night), and mapped their daily routines. The research showed that Waze's social layer -- designed to show nearby drivers as cartoon avatars -- created a surveillance surface that could be exploited by anyone with patience. Even when users set their status to "invisible," the app continued collecting and transmitting location data to Waze/Google servers. The invisible mode hid you from other users but not from the company.
What they claim: Waze promotes its police-spotting feature as a community safety tool that helps drivers "stay informed about what's ahead on the road."
What we found: Waze's police-reporting feature created a two-way surveillance problem. In 2015, the NYPD and police unions demanded Waze remove the feature, calling it a threat to officer safety. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton called it "irresponsible." But the same feature also worked in reverse: researchers and law enforcement noted that Waze's data could be used to track which users reported police presence -- potentially identifying individuals who monitor police activity. The app that lets you spot police also lets police spot you. Meanwhile, Waze shares anonymized traffic data with municipalities through its Connected Citizens Program, giving city governments real-time information about driver movements. The app sits at the intersection of citizen surveillance and state surveillance, serving both while claiming to serve neither.
What they claim: Waze markets itself as a "community-based" navigation app, distinct from Google Maps, with its own identity and user experience.
What we found: Waze was acquired by Google in 2013 for $1.1 billion. Waze user location data feeds into Google's broader advertising and data ecosystem. Waze's privacy policy permits sharing data with "affiliates" -- which means Alphabet/Google. In 2023, Google merged Waze's engineering team into Google Maps and laid off 65+ Waze employees, further dissolving the separation. Users who specifically chose Waze to avoid Google Maps were feeding the same corporate data pipeline. The real-time location data of 150 million Waze users -- their commutes, their routes, their destinations, their driving patterns -- flows to the same company that built Sensorvault and received 11,554 geofence warrants in a single year. Waze's independence is a brand identity, not a data architecture.
What they claim: Waze describes itself as a free navigation tool that helps drivers "get the best route, every day, with real-time help from other drivers."
What we found: Waze runs location-based advertising including "zero-speed takeover ads" -- full-screen advertisements displayed when a driver is stopped in traffic or at a red light. Advertisers can target users based on their current location, their route, and their destination. A fast-food chain can buy ads shown to drivers approaching their exit. A gas station can target drivers whose fuel level (inferred from driving patterns) suggests they need to stop. Waze knows where you're going before you get there -- and sells that knowledge to advertisers who want to intercept you along the way. The navigation app that "helps you get there" also tells advertisers exactly where "there" is.
What they claim: Waze states it collects data "to provide and improve navigation services" and "enhance road safety."
What we found: Waze collects detailed driving behavior data: speed at every point in a journey, hard braking events, rapid acceleration, route deviations, time of day driving patterns, and overall driving style. The app's terms permit using this data for "improving services" and sharing with "partners." Insurance companies have explored partnerships with driving data providers to adjust premiums based on driving behavior. Waze's driving profile -- assembled from every trip -- could characterize a driver as aggressive, cautious, or risky. The data exists. The terms allow sharing. The insurance industry wants it. A navigation app that records every time you brake hard, speed up fast, or drive at 2 AM is building an insurance risk profile whether it calls it that or not.
What they claim: Waze continues to market itself as an independent, community-driven app with a distinct identity from Google Maps, emphasizing its unique social features and user-driven reporting.
What we found: In 2023, Google formally merged Waze's engineering team into Google Maps and laid off 65+ Waze employees. The merger dissolved the technical separation between the two products. Waze's data infrastructure is now managed by the same engineering organization that runs Google Maps. Despite this, Waze continues to operate as a separate app and brand, maintaining the appearance of independence while sharing engineering, data infrastructure, and corporate governance with Google Maps. Users who chose Waze specifically because it wasn't Google Maps now use an app whose engineering team literally is Google Maps. The brand survives. The independence doesn't.