When you submit traffic reports or map edits in Waze, the app collects both your report content and your precise location at that moment, and may share this with government agencies and other mapping providers.
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 establishes the operational basis for Waze's crowdsourced data collection model, which depends on user participation to generate real-time traffic and hazard information. The authorization to share this data with third parties, including government agencies, creates a formal mechanism for data distribution beyond Waze's direct control.
Interpretive note: The document does not specify whether government sharing involves aggregated or individual-level data, creating ambiguity about the practical privacy impact of this provision.
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 →Your Waze traffic and hazard reports are tied to your location data and may be shared with government agencies and other mapping services, meaning community contributions are not anonymous and can reach entities outside Waze.
How other platforms handle this
Background check information. This includes information submitted to Uber, or Uber service providers, during the Driver/Delivery Person application process. Criminal record (where permitted by law)* ... Running background, driving and criminal record (where permitted by law) checks to confirm your i...
"By clicking 'Next', you are indicating that you have read and agree to the TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY"
We automatically collect certain information from your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Service, we collect information about the individual web pages or products th...
Monitoring
Waze has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 25 platforms.
"When you report traffic incidents, accidents, road hazards, or other map-related information through the App, we collect this information along with your location at the time of the report. This information is used to improve our mapping data and navigation services, and may be shared with third parties including government agencies and other mapping services.— Excerpt from Waze's Waze Privacy Policy
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Sharing user-generated location-linked reports with government agencies engages government data access considerations and, for EU users, GDPR's requirements on third-party data sharing and the need for a lawful basis for such transfers. FTC Act Section 5 applies to any material misrepresentation about the anonymity or confidentiality of user-submitted reports. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Low to Medium. Sharing aggregated or anonymized map data with government partners is a common practice in the mapping industry. However, the linkage of reports to precise user location at the time of submission, and the non-anonymized sharing of this with government agencies, creates a data category that users may not anticipate. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA transfers of personal data to government agencies require legal basis documentation. In some jurisdictions, law enforcement access to location-linked user reports may require legal process; the policy does not specify whether government sharing is voluntary or in response to legal requests. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Third-party mapping services receiving Waze user-generated data should be assessed for their own privacy practices, particularly where the data includes location-linked user reports that are not fully anonymized. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should clarify whether government sharing of map report data is aggregated and anonymized or includes individual-level location linkage, and ensure disclosures adequately inform users of this sharing.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Monitor: 25 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
Netflix updated its Privacy Statement on April 18, 2026, disclosing voice recording collection and expanded household ad profiling for the first time.
Google's Privacy Policy covers Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and every site running Google Analytics. Here is what it actually authorizes.
Compliance Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Compliance includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
This provision establishes the operational basis for Waze's crowdsourced data collection model, which depends on user participation to generate real-time traffic and hazard information. The authorization to share this data with third parties, including government agencies, creates a formal mechanism for data distribution beyond Waze's direct control.
Your Waze traffic and hazard reports are tied to your location data and may be shared with government agencies and other mapping services, meaning community contributions are not anonymous and can reach entities outside Waze.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Waze.