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Waze DIGITAL

DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT UPDATED 2026-07-04
Digital Score 1.14 /10 C Waze - BDS-1000 584
Digital 1.14

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Digital Domain Audit: Waze

Target: Waze Audit Phase: Digital Audit Parent Entity: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Compilation Date: Based on research through January 2025 with media reporting through October 2025


Enterprise Technology Stack & Vendor Relationships

Google Cloud Infrastructure Serving Waze

Google Cloud Israel Ltd. (Registry No. 516371432, Electra Tower, Tel Aviv) operates the Google Cloud Platform Israel region (me-west1, launched October 2022), which hosts infrastructure for Google services including Waze data feeds 12. Google Cloud Israel Ltd. appears on the Google Cloud subprocessor list as performing Data Center Operations for all GCP services in Israel, including the Israel region 2. Waze data - including traffic flows, incident reports, and GPS pings collected once per second during active navigation - is stored on Google Cloud servers, including the Google Cloud Israel region for data stored within Israel 32. Waze for Cities partner data, including Israeli municipal traffic information, was migrated to Google Cloud infrastructure (BigQuery, Data Studio) in 2021 and now flows through the same cloud platform 45.

Cognizant (GB) Limited – Israel Branch (Registry No. 560033623, Museum Tower, Tel Aviv) appears on the Google Workspace subprocessor list as a current provider of technical support for all Google Workspace Core Services in Israel under the 2025–2026 subprocessor agreement 6. Webhelp Israel LTD (Registry No. 516485745, Herzog Tower, Tel Aviv) is listed on the same Google Workspace subprocessor list as providing technical support for Google Workspace and Cloud Identity Services in Israel under parent company Webhelp SAS, a French-headquartered firm 6.

Integration with Israeli Smart City Systems

Tel Aviv Municipality operates the “Avivim” integrated traffic management system combining SCADA sensors, cameras, and Waze traffic data in a shared database; the system includes an AI sub-component called “EYAL” for real-time intersection control 7. Waze for Cities, the official data-sharing program between Waze and municipal governments, provides structured traffic feeds to municipalities including Tel Aviv under the Waze Partner Hub terms 849.

Israeli-Origin Technology Vendors

No public evidence identified of Waze specifically licensing, subscribing to, or integrating with named Israeli-origin cybersecurity, cloud, analytics, or enterprise software vendors such as Check Point, Wiz, SentinelOne, CyberArk, Nice, Verint, Claroty, or Palo Alto Networks 62110. No public evidence identified of Waze or Google Israel engaging specific systems integrators or IT outsourcing partners that have deployed Israeli-origin technology as part of engagements with Waze 1011.

Tel Aviv Municipality won ZenCity, an Israeli startup, as a partner for multi-modal transportation comparison within the same smart city ecosystem as Waze, though the evidence does not establish that ZenCity was deployed through a Waze engagement or that Waze specifically integrates with ZenCity 7.


Surveillance, Biometrics & Retail Technology

Google AI Infrastructure and Israeli Military Surveillance

Google’s general AI infrastructure has been documented in use by Israeli military and security forces for facial recognition and mass surveillance of Palestinians, as reported by AFSC Investigate, +972 Magazine, and The New York Times 121314. IDF officers reportedly used Google Photos’ facial recognition to identify Palestinians at checkpoints and in drone footage; one IDF officer stated Google Photos’ face-matching outperformed Corsight, a dedicated Israeli military facial recognition system 1312. Google’s Vertex AI platform was requested by IDF during the Gaza war beginning October 2023; Google escalated internally and granted access by mid-November 2023 1215. A SEC complaint was filed in August 2025 alleging Google assisted an Israeli military contractor in analyzing Gaza drone footage using Gemini AI 1216.

Third-Party Deployment of Google Infrastructure for Surveillance

The “al Munasseq” app, operated by the Israeli Civil Administration in the occupied West Bank, is hosted on Google Play (Google’s app distribution platform) and collects: name, ID number, phone number, IP address, device ID, OS ID, browser ID, geolocation, camera access, file access, consent for data extraction, and consent for third-party sharing with Israeli government and security authorities 1612.

Waze-Specific Capabilities

Waze is a navigation app whose core function does not involve retail or physical-space biometrics, facial recognition, behavioral analytics, or gait analysis 3. No public evidence identified of Waze directly deploying facial recognition, biometric identification, behavioral analytics, or gait analysis technologies of Israeli origin such as Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Oosto, or Trax 362. No public evidence identified of Waze deploying Israeli-origin predictive policing, sentiment analysis, social media monitoring, or workforce surveillance tools 3.


Cloud Infrastructure, Data Residency & Sovereign Cloud Participation

Google Cloud Israel Operations

Google Cloud Israel Ltd. (Registry No. 516371432) operates the Google Cloud Platform Israel region (me-west1, Tel Aviv area), launched October 2022 12. Google Israel Ltd. (Registry No. 513695478, Electra Tower, 98 Yigal Alon St, Tel Aviv) is registered as the subsidiary for service, maintenance, and technical support in Israel 1011. Waze Mobile Ltd. is the legal operating entity for Waze and has registered a database with the Israeli Database Registrar per its privacy policy, though the specific registration number, data categories, retention periods, and access protocols are not publicly disclosed 3.

Project Nimbus and Waze Data Flows

Waze is not a direct party to Project Nimbus, which is a $1.2 billion cloud and AI contract (May 2021–May 2028, extendable to 23 years) between the Israeli government and Google Cloud / Amazon Web Services jointly 121718. However, Waze data flows through Google Cloud infrastructure, which is the same platform providing services under Project Nimbus 45. Project Nimbus explicitly covers all branches of Israeli government including IDF, Ministry of Defence, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police, Israel Prison Service, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, Israel Land Authority, and Israeli municipalities 161217. Google Cloud Israel Ltd. - the entity operating the Israel region - is the same subsidiary through which Nimbus services are delivered 12.

Contractual Terms and Secret Mechanisms

The Adjusted Terms of Service for Project Nimbus are confidential, exempt Google from its standard terms of service, and prohibit Google from restricting service types, withdrawing services, or responding to foreign law enforcement requests without Israeli approval 171920. A secret “winking mechanism” in the Nimbus contract requires Google and Amazon to send coded payments (1,000–9,999 shekels based on target country dial code) to notify Israel when they disclose Israeli data to foreign courts under gag orders 1921.

Google’s Internal Risk Assessments

Google’s internal assessment from January 2021, conducted prior to signing Project Nimbus, warned: “Google Cloud Services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank” 1712. A BSR consultant recommended withholding AI/ML tools from the Israeli military; Google proceeded anyway 17. Google’s own report confirmed “very limited visibility” into how Israel uses its software under the Nimbus contract 17.

Classified Team and Military Cloud Operations

Google maintains an Israeli-national-security-cleared “Classified Team” created specifically for Project Nimbus, designed to “receive information by [Israel] that cannot be shared with [Google],” participating in “specialized training with government security agencies” and “joint drills and scenarios tailored to specific threats” 1722. This level of cooperation “is not currently provided to any country by GCP” 17. A separate classified cloud workload contract code-named “Natrolite” reportedly handles classified workloads for Israeli military and Shin Bet; Google did not respond to questions about its involvement 17.

IDF Military Cloud Operations

The IDF’s Operational Cloud (internal military cloud, managed by IDF’s MAMRAM/Center of Computing and Information Systems) became overloaded during the Gaza ground invasion; the military turned to AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure for additional capacity 2324. Google Cloud therefore hosts intelligence data collected via mass surveillance of Gaza 2324.

EU Data Flows and Adequacy

EU data flows to Israel are governed by the European Commission’s adequacy decision for Israel, renewed January 2024 2526. Privacy experts and civil society organizations (EDRi, KU Leuven, Cyberveilig Nederland) warned that Israeli surveillance law carve-outs - including Shin Bet’s broad metadata powers under Section 11 of Shin Bet Law - were not adequately assessed in the Commission’s review 2527. Waze and Moovit route EU user data to or through Israel under this framework 25.


Defence, Intelligence & Security Sector Technology Relationships

Direct Military Coordination

No public evidence identified of Waze serving as a direct signatory to any known procurement contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, or intelligence agencies 161217. However, Waze does coordinate with Israeli military and security bodies through informal arrangements. Since 2017, Waze has coordinated with the IDF Oketz Unit (Judea and Samaria Division) to update driving directions and dangerous-area warnings for Israeli drivers in the West Bank; IDF officers gave Waze representatives a field tour of West Bank roads, and Waze publishes specific location warnings for Area A entry points 28. Waze resumed real-time traffic updates during the October 2023 Gaza war “in coordination with the IDF’s Home Front Command” 29. IDF soldiers have been documented relying on Waze for navigation in the West Bank; the March 2016 Qalandia incident - in which IDF soldiers disabled Waze’s “dangerous areas” setting and strayed into a Palestinian refugee camp - resulted in one Palestinian killed and ten wounded 303128.

Waze Platform Exposure of Military Installations

Waze’s crowdsourced mapping platform exposes IDF base locations and patrol routes in near-real time; information security researcher Amitay Dan, studying Waze since October 2023, confirmed that Waze’s open map-editing platform allows anyone to retrieve exact coordinates of military bases, IDF patrol routes, and strategic installations 3233. User trip data and editor activity logs reveal troop movements, and Waze was warned by researchers for years; its limited corrective action (bulk-deleting photos of bases) created a consolidated list of base names and locations from the edit logs 3233. Calcalist/CTech reported in February 2025 that Waze’s mapping platform constitutes a national security risk because users expose IDF base locations 32.

Israeli Government Response to Waze Exposure

The Israeli Mapping Center (a government body) published a tender to develop an Israeli alternative to Waze, at least partly motivated by security concerns about the exposure of military installations via Waze’s crowdsourced mapping 3435.

Google AI Infrastructure for Israeli Military Targeting

Google’s broader AI infrastructure (Vertex AI, Gemini) has been provided to Israeli military and security bodies via Project Nimbus and direct military contracts. In October 2023, IDF requested expansion of Google Vertex AI; by mid-November 2023 Google granted the requested access 12. March 2024 brought a new IDF contract for consulting assistance to expand Google Cloud access across multiple IDF units 12. November 2024 saw IDF requesting Gemini AI access 12. IDF’s AI targeting systems “Lavender” (generating lists of Gaza assassination targets) and “The Gospel” (Habsora, providing thousands of human and infrastructure targets for bombing) are powered by Nimbus cloud infrastructure 1236. “Where’s Daddy?” is an Israeli military AI system for tracking and locating individuals, used alongside Lavender for targeting operations 13.

Offensive Capabilities

No public evidence identified of Waze developing, selling, licensing, or maintaining offensive cyber capabilities, zero-day exploit tools, or digital weapons systems 31612.


AI, Algorithmic & Autonomous Systems

Waze AI Capabilities

Waze’s AI functions are limited to traffic routing optimization, ETA calculation, and incident detection 3. No public evidence identified of Waze providing AI or ML systems to Israeli state, military, or security bodies as a standalone product 3.

Broader Google AI Infrastructure

However, Google’s broader AI infrastructure (Vertex AI, Gemini) has been provided to Israeli military and security bodies via Project Nimbus and direct military contracts, as detailed in Section 4 above, running on the same Google Cloud platform that hosts Waze data 12173615.

Training Data and Model Development

No public evidence identified of Waze’s AI models being trained on, or provided access to, civilian population data, intercepted communications, or surveillance-derived datasets originating from Israel or occupied territories 31612.

Autonomous Systems

No public evidence identified of Waze providing autonomous target generation, automated threat detection, or autonomous tracking systems to Israeli military or security forces 312.


Technology Ecosystem & R&D Footprint

Israeli R&D Operations

Waze’s primary engineering, product development, and mapping operations are headquartered in Ra’anana, Israel 337. Post-December 2022 consolidation, when Waze was folded into Google Geo alongside Google Maps and Google Earth, Waze Mobile Ltd. remains an active legal entity in Israel per the Israeli IVC registry, and the Ra’anana office and Israeli team remain operational 3738. Waze Mobile Ltd. was confirmed as the legal operating entity for Waze in the privacy policy dated August 2023: “Waze Mobile Limited respects your privacy” 3. Google Israel Ltd. (Registry No. 513695478) and Google Cloud Israel Ltd. (Registry No. 516371432) are both registered at Electra Tower, 98 Yigal Alon St, Tel Aviv, as confirmed via Israeli corporate registry 110.

Acquisition and Corporate Structure

Waze was acquired by Google (now Alphabet) for approximately $1.1 billion in June 2013, and Waze Mobile Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. 3938. Alphabet’s 10-K subsidiary schedules list Waze alongside YouTube, DoubleClick, Nest, Fitbit, and Mandiant 16. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is incorporated in Delaware, USA, and serves as the parent entity 39.

Investments and Acquisitions Post-2013

No public evidence identified of Alphabet or Waze acquiring additional Israeli-origin technology companies since the 2013 acquisition 1137. No public evidence identified of Waze making strategic investments in Israeli technology startups or venture funds 1137.

Research Partnerships

No public evidence identified of significant patent portfolios, licensing agreements, or co-development arrangements between Waze and Israeli-domiciled research institutions such as Technion, Hebrew University, or Weizmann Institute 1137. Waze’s crowdsourced mapping data is partially derived from Israeli users and Israeli government data-sharing partnerships (Waze for Cities with Tel Aviv Municipality), which constitutes a form of data-for-IP arrangement with Israeli public institutions 78.


Civil Society Scrutiny & Regulatory History

UN and International Body Reports

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese named Alphabet/Google as one of approximately 15 companies “central to Israel’s surveillance apparatus and the ongoing Gaza destruction” in Report A/HRC/59/23, dated 2 July 2025, with individual executives named for potential criminal liability 40. The report covers paragraphs 36–43 on surveillance, AI, cloud, and Project Nimbus; Waze is not separately named in this report but Google, its parent, is explicitly named 40.

NGO Investigations

AFSC Investigate (2024–2025) profiles Alphabet as providing technology to Israeli military and settlement institutions, with key findings including: Vertex AI provided to IDF, Google Photos facial recognition used for Palestinian surveillance, Google matched employee donations to IDF-linked charities, 50+ employees fired for protesting Project Nimbus, and Google lifting its ban on military AI use in February 2025 124142. Who Profits (2024–2025) lists Alphabet as providing technology to Israeli military and settlement institutions, including hosting the ICA “al Munasseq” app on Google Play, providing cloud services to IAI, Rafael, Shin Bet, Israel Police, Israel Prison Service, and Settlement Division of WZO under Project Nimbus 16. Don’t Buy Into Occupation V (PAX/SOMO/Al-Haq, November 2025) covers 104 companies including Google/Alphabet but not Waze as a separately enumerated target 43. Follow the Money Investigation (2024) documented EU data flows to Israel via Waze and Moovit under the EU adequacy decision, warning that Israeli surveillance law carve-outs create risk of European user data being accessed by Israeli intelligence 2527. +972 Magazine / Local Call published multiple reports documenting Google Cloud’s role in hosting Israeli military intelligence data, the “winking mechanism” in Project Nimbus, and Waze’s exposure of IDF base locations 23212433.

UN OHCHR Settlement Database

Neither Waze nor Google LLC appears in the UN OHCHR database of business enterprises involved in settlement activity (HRC resolutions 31/36 and 53/25; 158 companies as of September 2025) 44. This absence is notable: while Google is named at the entity level in the UN A/HRC/59/23 report, it is not in the operational OHCHR settlement database 44.

Boycott and Divestment Campaigns

No Waze-specific BDS campaign has been identified; no Palestinian BDS organization has issued a separate boycott call specifically targeting Waze 45. The BDS Movement lists Google/Alphabet as a boycott target at “medium” priority, citing the Waze acquisition as one element among many 45. The No Tech for Apartheid campaign targets Project Nimbus (Google + Amazon jointly) and led to 50+ Google employee firings in April 2024 and 1,100+ student pledges from 120 universities not to intern at Google until Nimbus is dropped; Waze is not separately named in No Tech for Apartheid campaign materials 12464742.

Google’s Responses to Scrutiny

Google documented responses to civil society pressure include: firing protesting employees, lifting the ban on military AI use in February 2025, and maintaining its participation in Project Nimbus 414248.

A former Google employee filed an SEC complaint in August 2025 alleging Google assisted an Israeli military contractor in analyzing Gaza drone footage using Gemini AI, violating Google’s own policy prohibiting AI for combat or surveillance 1216.

EU Regulatory Action

The European Commission renewed Israel’s adequacy designation in January 2024, making EU-to-Israel data transfers legally permissible; critics warned the Commission conducted no meaningful human rights or rule-of-law assessment 252726.

Microsoft Precedent

Microsoft cut off Israeli military access to Azure services in August 2024 after confirming the military stored mass surveillance data of Palestinian calls in violation of its terms of service; Google’s and Amazon’s ability to take similar action is prohibited under Project Nimbus contractual terms 49.

Charitable Matching Programs

Google matched employee donations to the Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces (FIDF) - a US-based organization supporting IDF soldiers - via the Benevity platform, and FIDF supports soldiers deployed in Gaza operations 5051. Google matched employee donations to HaYovel - a Missouri-based Christian Zionist organization sending volunteers to farms on Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory - and post-October 7, HaYovel purchased $3.5 million in security equipment for Israeli settler communities in the West Bank 505152. Benevity’s eligible organization list also includes One Israel Fund (explicitly funds 500,000+ West Bank settlement residents, finances paramilitary equipment for violent settlements like Yitzhar), Ein Prat Academy (pre-military leadership program based at Kfar Adumim settlement with formal IDF agreement), and IsraelGives (facilitates donations to West Bank settlements and paramilitary units) 52. Google confirmed using Benevity for employee donation matching for more than 15 years 50.


End Notes

Footnotes

  1. https://www.northdata.com/Google%20Cloud%20Israel%20Ltd%C2%B7,%20Tel%20Aviv%20-%20Yafo/ICA-516371432 2 3 4 5

  2. https://cloud.google.com/terms/subprocessors 2 3 4 5 6 7

  3. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12075406?hl=en 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

  4. https://support.google.com/waze/partners/answer/10715739?hl=en 2 3

  5. https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/waze-data-sharing-program-now-available-on-google-cloud/564172 2

  6. https://workspace.google.com/terms/subprocessors 2 3 4

  7. https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/International-Case-Studies-of-Smart-Cities-Tel-Aviv-Israel.pdf 2 3

  8. https://www.waze.com/wazeforcities 2

  9. https://web-assets.waze.com/cms/Waze%20for%20Cities-Two-Pager_DIGITAL_Final.pdf

  10. https://www.kycisrael.com/companies/513695478/google-israel-ltd 2 3 4

  11. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312510030774/dex2101.htm 2 3 4 5

  12. https://investigate.afsc.org/company/alphabet 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

  13. https://www.972mag.com/where-daddy-gaza-surveillance-israel 2 3

  14. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/technology/google-israel-contract-project-nimbus.html

  15. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/11/01/google-israel-military-ai-gaza/ 2

  16. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7400?google= 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

  17. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/12/google-nimbus-israel-military-ai-human-rights 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

  18. https://time.com/6966102/google-contract-israel-defense-ministry-gaza-war

  19. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/29/google-amazon-israel-contract-secret-code 2

  20. https://www.972mag.com/google-amazon-nimbus-israel-weapons-arms-gaza

  21. https://www.972mag.com/winking-mechanism-google-amazon-israel 2

  22. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/12/google-nimbus-israel-military-ai-human-rights

  23. https://www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft 2 3

  24. https://www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft 2 3

  25. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-risks-personal-data-israel 2 3 4 5

  26. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6170 2

  27. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-risks-personal-data-israel 2 3

  28. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-02/ty-article/waze-consults-idf-to-prevent-misdirected-drivers-in-west-bank/0000017f-e873-df5f-a17f-fbff8fb30000 2

  29. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sjjjjdhv6

  30. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/01/468731008/israeli-troops-using-waze-app-stray-into-palestinian-camp-sparking-violence

  31. https://www.vice.com/en/article/waze-lets-jewish-israelis-avoid-palestinian-areas-but-not-the-other-way-around

  32. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1ik71ltje 2 3

  33. https://www.972mag.com/waze-israel-military-base-locations 2 3

  34. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sy00jrfdor

  35. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sy00jrfdor

  36. https://www.notechforapartheid.com/press/n-washington-post-reporting-that-google-rushed-to-sell-the-israeli-military-its-ai-tools-since-the-launch-of-its-genocidal-attack-on-gaza-began-on-october-7-2023 2

  37. https://www.ivc-online.com/Google-Card?id=c64606cb-d305-e411-b941-80c16e7d3630 2 3 4 5

  38. https://businessmodelcanvastemplate.com/blogs/owners/waze-who-owns 2

  39. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waze 2

  40. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025 2

  41. https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies 2

  42. https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies 2 3

  43. https://paxforpeace.nl/publications/dont-buy-into-occupation-2025

  44. https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr-database 2

  45. https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott 2

  46. https://www.notechforapartheid.com/

  47. https://www.notechforapartheid.com/press/google-rushed-to-sell-the-israeli-military-its-ai-tools-since-october-7

  48. https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies

  49. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/29/google-amazon-israel-contract-secret-code

  50. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/google-criticised-matching-donations-charities-supporting-israeli-soldiers-and-settlements 2 3

  51. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/blog/google-is-a-central-player-in-israels-digital-infrastructure 2

  52. https://jacobin.com/2025/07/us-jewish-charities-funding-israels-settlers 2