waze-logs 1.1.0

Worldwide Waze traffic event collection and analysis tool - demonstrates location privacy risks in crowdsourced traffic applications

Waze Worldwide Logger

A worldwide data collection and analysis tool for Waze traffic events. Demonstrates location privacy risks in crowdsourced traffic applications.

Overview

This tool captures Waze traffic reports (police, jams, hazards, accidents, road closures) from 5 continents with:

• Username of the reporter
• GPS coordinates (latitude/longitude)
• Timestamp (millisecond precision)
• Report type and subtype
• Region and city information

By collecting this data over time, it's possible to build detailed movement profiles of individual users - demonstrating significant privacy implications of Waze's crowdsourced model.

Coverage: 8,656 grid cells across Europe, Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa

Based on research by Covert Labs

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• ~500MB disk space (for worldwide data)

1. Install from PyPI (recommended)

pip install waze-logs

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/jasperan/waze-logs
cd waze-logs
pip install -e .

This installs the waze command globally.

2. Start collector with web UI (recommended)

# Start worldwide collector + web visualization in one command
waze collect --web

# Or specify a custom port
waze collect --web --port 8080

# Open http://localhost:5000 (or your custom port)

3. Alternative: Run components separately

# Collector only (no web UI)
waze collect

# Web UI only (view existing data)
waze web
waze web --port 8080

4. Explore the data

waze status --all    # Worldwide status & stats
waze summary         # Collection summary
waze recent          # Latest events
waze users           # Active users
waze profile <user>  # User movement analysis

5. Stop the collector

waze stop --worldwide

Worldwide Collector

The worldwide collector scans 5 continents in parallel using multithreading:

Region	Priority 1 (Cities)	Priority 3 (Coverage)	Total
Europe	477	1,748	2,225
Americas	693	1,692	2,385
Asia	684	1,517	2,201
Oceania	216	481	697
Africa	315	833	1,148
Total	2,385	6,271	8,656

Collection Strategy

• Priority 1 (Cities): Major metropolitan areas, scanned every cycle
• Priority 3 (Coverage): Broader coverage areas, scanned every 10 cycles
• Parallel scanning: All 5 regions scanned simultaneously
• WAL mode: Thread-safe SQLite with Write-Ahead Logging

Web Visualization UI

The web UI provides real-time visualization at http://localhost:5000:

Features

• Live Map: Leaflet.js heatmap of worldwide events
• Real-time Feed: SSE-powered live event stream
• Type Filtering: Filter by POLICE (blue), ACCIDENT (red), JAM (orange), HAZARD (yellow), ROAD_CLOSED (purple)
• User Tracking: Search and filter events by specific username
• Time Filters: Filter by date range or hours ago
• Leaderboard: Top contributors ranked by event count
• Click-to-Navigate: Click any event in the live feed to fly to its location on the map

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
/api/stats	Summary statistics from all databases
/api/events	Events with filters (type, user, since, from, to)
/api/heatmap	Aggregated coordinates for heatmap layer
/api/types	Event types with counts
/api/users	User list with search
/api/leaderboard	Top contributors
/api/stream	Server-Sent Events for real-time updates
/api/status	Current collector status

CLI Commands

Collection Control

# Worldwide collector (recommended)
waze collect                      # Start worldwide collector
waze collect --web                # Collector + web UI on port 5000
waze collect --web --port 8080    # Collector + web UI on custom port
waze collect -r europe -r asia    # Collect from specific regions only

# Watch live logs (connect to running collector)
waze logs                         # Follow live collector output
waze logs -n 100                  # Show last 100 lines, then follow
waze logs -F                      # Show recent logs and exit (no follow)

# Stop collectors
waze stop --worldwide             # Stop worldwide collector
waze stop                         # Stop legacy Madrid collector

# Status
waze status                       # Basic status (Madrid DB)
waze status --all                 # Full status with all regional DBs

Web Visualization

waze web                          # Start web UI only (no collection)
waze web --port 8080              # Web UI on custom port

Data Exploration

waze summary                      # Worldwide collection summary
waze stats                        # Summary statistics
waze daily --all                  # Daily stats from all regions
waze recent                       # Last 20 events
waze recent -n 50                 # Last 50 events
waze search -u <user>             # Events from user
waze search -t police             # Filter by type
waze search --since 2h            # Last 2 hours

User Analysis

waze users                        # List users by activity
waze tracked                      # Show tracked users with most events
waze profile <username>           # Detailed user profile

Export

waze export --format csv          # Export to CSV
waze export --format geojson      # Export for mapping

Configuration

Regional configs are auto-generated on first run:

• config_europe.yaml
• config_americas.yaml
• config_asia.yaml
• config_oceania.yaml
• config_africa.yaml

Project Structure

waze-madrid-logger/
├── pyproject.toml            # Package config (installs 'waze' command)
├── cli.py                    # CLI entry point (with integrated collector + web UI)
├── collector_worldwide.py    # Standalone multithreaded collector
├── database.py               # SQLite operations (WAL mode)
├── analysis.py               # Stats and profiling
├── waze_client.py            # Direct Waze API client
├── web/
│   ├── app.py                # Flask web application
│   └── templates/
│       └── index.html        # Map visualization UI
├── config_*.yaml             # Regional configurations (auto-generated)
├── *_grid.py                 # Grid cell generators
├── data/
│   ├── waze_europe.db
│   ├── waze_americas.db
│   ├── waze_asia.db
│   ├── waze_oceania.db
│   ├── waze_africa.db
│   ├── collector_status.json     # Real-time status for web UI
│   └── collector_checkpoint.json # Resume checkpoint
└── logs/
    └── cli_collector.log

Privacy & Ethics

This tool is for security research and education - demonstrating privacy risks in Waze's design.

Do not use for:

• Stalking or tracking individuals
• Publishing identifiable data
• Any illegal surveillance

License

MIT

---

Annex: Sample Outputs

CLI Collector Startup (waze collect --web)

Starting worldwide collector...
Web UI will be available at http://localhost:5000
======================================================================
WAZE WORLDWIDE COLLECTOR (CLI)
======================================================================
  EUROPE     - P1 (cities):  477, P3 (coverage): 1748
  AMERICAS   - P1 (cities):  693, P3 (coverage): 1692
  ASIA       - P1 (cities):  684, P3 (coverage): 1517
  OCEANIA    - P1 (cities):  216, P3 (coverage):  481
  AFRICA     - P1 (cities):  315, P3 (coverage):  833
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  TOTAL      - P1 (cities): 2385, P3 (coverage): 6271
               Grand total: 8656 grid cells
======================================================================
Collection strategy (MULTITHREADED):
  - All regions scanned in PARALLEL for P1 (city) scans
  - Full P3 (coverage) scan every 10 cycles (parallel)
  - 10 second pause between cycles
  - Web UI at http://localhost:5000
======================================================================

Parallel Scanning Output

==================================================
CYCLE 1 (PARALLEL MODE)
==================================================
Starting parallel P1 scan across 5 regions...
[  1/315] abidjan                   (CI) ->   4 alerts, +4 new | HAZARD:1, JAM:1, POLICE:1
[  1/684] abu_dhabi                 (AE) ->   9 alerts, +1 new | JAM:1
[  1/693] arequipa                  (PE) -> 181 alerts, +6 new | HAZARD:3, POLICE:2, JAM:1
[  1/216] adelaide                  (AU) ->  38 alerts, +38 new | ROAD_CLOSED:31, POLICE:7
[  1/477] amsterdam                 (NL) -> 183 alerts, +3 new | HAZARD:3
  [EUROPE] +4 events, 0 errors
  [ASIA] +1 events, 0 errors
  [AFRICA] +9 events, 0 errors
  [AMERICAS] +7 events, 0 errors
  [OCEANIA] +190 events, 0 errors
P1 cycle complete: +211 total events, 0 errors

API Response: /api/stats

{
    "total_events": 28709,
    "unique_users": 28496,
    "first_event": "2021-02-28T00:00:00+00:00",
    "last_event": "2026-01-24T10:36:15+00:00"
}

API Response: /api/leaderboard

[
    {"rank": 1, "username": "world_3e440399", "count": 3, "last_seen": "2026-01-24T08:09:24+00:00"},
    {"rank": 2, "username": "world_9886cdb3", "count": 3, "last_seen": "2026-01-24T08:33:22+00:00"},
    {"rank": 3, "username": "world_9e5e1c59", "count": 3, "last_seen": "2026-01-24T08:24:36+00:00"}
]

Live Feed Event (SSE)

{
    "type": "new_event",
    "event": {
        "id": "europe_12345",
        "username": "user123",
        "latitude": 52.3676,
        "longitude": 4.9041,
        "timestamp": "2026-01-24T10:30:00+00:00",
        "report_type": "POLICE",
        "subtype": "POLICE_VISIBLE",
        "grid_cell": "amsterdam",
        "region": "europe"
    }
}

Status Command (waze status --all)

=== Collector Status ===
Worldwide: Running (PID 2251683)
Madrid:    Stopped
Europe:    Stopped

=== Regional Database Summary ===
Region    Events    Users    First       Last
--------  --------  -------  ----------  ----------
MADRID    272       227      2025-07-31  2026-01-24
EUROPE    17,561    17,412   2021-02-28  2026-01-24
AMERICAS  9,794     9,781    2023-09-21  2026-01-24
ASIA      3,017     3,017    2023-08-16  2026-01-24
OCEANIA   996       995      2023-12-31  2026-01-24
AFRICA    1,120     1,120    2025-06-21  2026-01-24

=== Totals ===
Total events: 32,760
Unique users: 32,498
Time range: 2021-02-28T00:00:00 -> 2026-01-24T11:00:48

By type (all regions):
  HAZARD         15,958 (48.7%)
  ROAD_CLOSED    10,107 (30.9%)
  JAM             3,289 (10.0%)
  POLICE          3,016 (9.2%)
  ACCIDENT          360 (1.1%)
  CHIT_CHAT          30 (0.1%)

Summary Command (waze summary)

=== Worldwide Collection Summary ===
Total events:    32,760
Unique users:    32,498
Days collected:  45
Grid cells used: 2,156
First event:     2021-02-28T00:00:00
Last event:      2026-01-24T11:00:48
Avg events/day:  728.0

=== By Region ===
  EUROPE       17,561 events    17,412 users  (53.6%)
  AMERICAS      9,794 events     9,781 users  (29.9%)
  ASIA          3,017 events     3,017 users  (9.2%)
  AFRICA        1,120 events     1,120 users  (3.4%)
  OCEANIA         996 events       995 users  (3.0%)
  MADRID          272 events       227 users  (0.8%)