Waze shares your data with outside advertising and analytics companies who may also track your activity across other apps and websites using cookies and similar tracking tools.
This analysis describes what Waze's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision authorizes the disclosure of user data, including potentially location and behavioral data, to third-party advertising and analytics partners who may independently track users across digital environments beyond the Waze app.
Interpretive note: The policy does not enumerate specific advertising and analytics partners or the precise categories of data shared with each, which limits the ability to assess the full scope of this provision without reviewing partner-level disclosures.
The updated policy now explicitly discloses that Waze periodically collects all phone numbers stored on your device's contact book as part of the 'find friends' feature. According to the revised terms, these phone numbers are collected in a form that is initially anonymous to Waze and are used to help create a list of other Waze users you may know. The policy clarifies that names, addresses, and other contact information are not collected from your phone book, though such information may be saved locally on your device for local searches. Additionally, the updated terms now explicitly authorize connecting your Waze account to social network accounts and sharing profile information from those networks. You can control whether to use the 'find friends' feature and whether to connect social network accounts to your Waze account.
View change record →The updated policy removes explicit language describing how Waze collects phone numbers from device contact books and integrates social network accounts. Previously, the policy stated that Waze would 'periodically collect all of the phone numbers which are stored on your device's phone contacts book' and described how this information was used for the 'find friends' feature. The revised policy no longer includes these specific disclosures. This does not necessarily mean the practices have stopped, but it means the policy provides less transparency about what data Waze collects from your device and how it uses contact information. Users who relied on these detailed descriptions to understand Waze's data practices will find the updated policy less explicit on these points.
View change record →The updated privacy policy now explicitly discloses that Waze periodically collects all phone numbers stored in your device's contact book as part of the 'find friends' feature. According to the policy, this information is collected in an anonymous form to Waze and is used to identify other Waze users you may know. The terms also clarify that social network information can be shared with Waze and other users if you choose to connect your social network account. While the policy states that names, addresses, and other contact book information are not collected, some contact information may be saved locally on your device for local search purposes. You can control whether this feature operates by not using the 'find friends' feature or by not granting the app contact access through your device settings.
View change record →The policy states that advertising and analytics partners may receive user data and deploy their own tracking technologies within the Waze app, which means user data may be subject to those third parties' own privacy practices in addition to Waze's policy.
How other platforms handle this
We may share your information with third-party vendors and service providers that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance. We may also share your information with third-party advertising p...
We may share your personal information with third-party vendors and service providers that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance. We may also share your personal information with busines...
We permit third-party service providers to collect your information, as described here, through some of our services and we share your information with third-party service providers for business purposes as described in this policy, including but not limited to providing advertising on our services ...
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"We may share your information with third-party partners, including advertising and analytics companies, to help us understand how you use our services and to show you more relevant ads. These third parties may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of the Waze App and other websites and apps.— Excerpt from Waze's Waze Privacy Policy
1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Sharing of personal data with third-party advertising partners implicates GDPR Article 6 lawful basis requirements and, for EU users, requires consent under the ePrivacy Directive for cookie and tracking technology deployment. CCPA/CPRA requires disclosure of categories of third parties to whom personal information is sold or shared for cross-context behavioral advertising, and provides a right to opt out of such sharing. The FTC Act Section 5 applies to the accuracy and completeness of disclosures about third-party data sharing practices. 2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The policy discloses third-party advertising and analytics sharing but does not enumerate the specific partners or the categories of data transferred to each partner class, which may create transparency gaps under GDPR and CCPA specificity requirements. The use of third-party tracking technologies within the app context (rather than browser context) may require evaluation under mobile-specific consent frameworks. 3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA users are protected by ePrivacy Directive and GDPR consent requirements for advertising tracking; the deployment of third-party trackers within a mobile app requires affirmative consent in most EU jurisdictions. California users have a CPRA right to opt out of sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising. Some EU member states (France, Germany) have specific guidance from national data protection authorities on consent requirements for advertising SDKs embedded in mobile apps. 4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Procurement teams should request a list of advertising and analytics technology vendors integrated into the Waze app and assess the data processing agreements and consent mechanisms governing each. The policy's reference to third parties using their own tracking technologies implies that Waze's DPA obligations may not fully cover downstream data handling by those partners. 5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should audit the advertising SDK and analytics tool inventory within the Waze app against the disclosed purposes and verify that consent collection mechanisms (where required) are properly implemented. Records of third-party data sharing should be maintained in RoPA documentation for GDPR compliance.
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This provision authorizes the disclosure of user data, including potentially location and behavioral data, to third-party advertising and analytics partners who may independently track users across digital environments beyond the Waze app.
The policy states that advertising and analytics partners may receive user data and deploy their own tracking technologies within the Waze app, which means user data may be subject to those third parties' own privacy practices in addition to Waze's policy.
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