Waze Privacy Policy — Waze

10 Total

3 High severity

7 Medium severity

0 Low severity

Summary

Waze's privacy policy explains how the navigation app collects and uses your data, including your precise location at all times while using the app, your driving habits, search history, and device information. This data is shared with Google and may be used to show you personalized ads. You have rights to see, correct, or delete your data by contacting Waze directly.

Technical Summary

This is the Waze Mobile Limited Privacy Policy governing the collection, use, storage, and sharing of personal data from users of the Waze navigation application and website. The policy establishes Waze's basis for processing location data, usage data, device identifiers, and user-generated content, and discloses sharing practices with Google (Waze's parent company) and third-party partners. Key obligations include providing users with rights to access, correct, and delete their data, with enhanced rights for EU/EEA users under GDPR and California residents under CCPA. Notable provisions include continuous background location tracking, sharing of anonymized/aggregated driving data, use of data for advertising personalization, and data retention policies tied to account activity. The policy also addresses children's privacy, third-party integrations, and cross-border data transfers.

Institutional Analysis

This policy engages GDPR (EU/EEA users), UK GDPR, and CCPA (California residents), requiring lawful bases for processing, data subject rights fulfillment, and cross-border transfer mechanisms given Waze's operation under Google's infrastructure. Compliance teams should scrutinize the breadth of loc…

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Compliance intelligence locked

Regulatory exposure, material risk, and due diligence action items.

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Evidence Provenance

Captured March 23, 2026 06:16 UTC

Document ID CA-D-000323

Version ID CA-V-000282

Source URL https://www.waze.com/legal/privacy

Wayback Machine View archived versions →

SHA-256 e5820cc74fa929353183fd746c1454adccf9bdbdff4a986a51eccd3745bc63b2

✓ Snapshot stored ✓ Text extracted ✓ Change verified ✓ Cryptographically signed

Change Timeline

March 23, 2026 — Document updated high

Waze updated its privacy policy on March 23, 2026 to expand what personal data it collects, notably adding new sections about connecting social network accounts, a 'find friends' feature that periodically collects phone numbers from your contacts book, and your own phone number for account verification. Previously, the policy did not explicitly mention collecting contact list phone numbers or social network data in this way. This matters because Waze may now collect more data about you and your contacts — including people who have never used Waze — than before.

7 added · 1 removed · 25 modified
View changes → View record →
e5820cc7…
March 19, 2026 — Initial capture

First snapshot archived

eb4f97d8…

Analyzed Changes

1 change analyzed since monitoring began.

Updated March 23, 2026

high

What changed Waze updated their Waze Privacy Policy on March 23, 2026. Change detected: 7 sentence(s) added, 1 sentence(s) removed, 25 sentence(s) modified. Document contained 271 sentences after update.

Consumer impact Waze now explicitly states it will periodically collect all phone numbers stored in your device's contacts book as part of a 'find friends' feature, and may also collect your own phone number and data from connected social network accounts. This affects not just Waze users but also people in their contacts who have never consented to having their phone number shared with Waze. You can disable the 'find friends' feature and revoke social network integrations in your Waze account settings to limit this data collection.

Why it matters Waze is now periodically collecting phone numbers from your device's contacts — including numbers belonging to people who never agreed to share their data with Waze. This is one of the more privacy-invasive data practices a navigation app can implement and has attracted regulatory enforcement in similar contexts.

High Severity — 3 provisions

Continuous Background Location Tracking
Waze collects your precise GPS location continuously while the app is in use, including in the background, to provide navigation and community-based traffic features.

Added March 20, 2026
Data Sharing with Google and Affiliates
Waze shares your personal data, including location and usage information, with its parent company Google and affiliated entities within the Google group.

Added March 20, 2026
Advertising Profiling and Personalization
Waze uses your location data, driving behavior, and usage information to show you personalized advertisements within the app.

Added March 20, 2026

Medium Severity — 7 provisions

GDPR and CCPA User Data Rights
Users — particularly those in the EU/EEA and California — have rights to access, correct, delete, or port their personal data, and can object to certain types of processing.

Added March 20, 2026
Children's Privacy Restrictions
Waze states that its services are not directed at children under 13 (or higher age thresholds in some jurisdictions) and that it does not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Added March 20, 2026
Cross-Border Data Transfers
Waze may transfer your personal data to countries outside your own, including to the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your home country.

Added March 20, 2026
User-Generated Content and Community Data
When you report accidents, traffic, or other events in Waze, this content is shared with the Waze community and may be used to improve Waze services.

Added March 20, 2026
Data Retention Policy
Waze retains your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services, comply with legal obligations, or resolve disputes.

Added March 20, 2026
Third-Party Integrations and Partner Data Sharing
Waze integrates with third-party services (such as music apps and fuel price providers) and may share data with these partners when you use integrated features.

Added March 20, 2026
Anonymized and Aggregated Driving Data Use
Waze states that it uses anonymized and aggregated data about driving patterns and traffic conditions to improve its services and may share such data with third parties.

Added March 20, 2026