State Comptroller Warns Traffic-Enforcement Cameras Can Harm Privacy if Used Excessively

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman released a report on Tuesday examining how local authorities use cameras to enforce parking rules and bus lane violations. He said the system can improve enforcement, but it also risks harming the privacy of passersby, so it requires careful review and restrained, limited use. Englman urged municipalities to use enforcement cameras fairly and proportionately, and to periodically check whether the original justification for the cameras still exists. If the purpose no longer applies, he said, authorities should stop filming public space or consider moving the cameras.

The report said the Transport Ministry has not advanced a process allowing the minister to approach municipalities that are not enforcing bus lane offenses, even though that authority was granted at the end of 2022. The comptroller warned that weak enforcement in bus lanes could reduce the benefits of public transport, including economic, social, safety, and environmental gains.

The audit found a series of problems in several municipalities. In Hadera, the city operated enforcement cameras for more than a year under the current head of enforcement and security without formally appointing him as responsible for parking cameras. After the audit, in December 2025, the city’s director general appointed him to that role. Hadera also lacked adequate information-security procedures, as did the local council of Binyamina-Giv'at Ada. Herzliya and Ramat Gan published only partial public information about their camera enforcement policies, while Hadera and Ramat Gan did not disclose the size of fines issued through the cameras or data showing whether the systems actually eased congestion or improved public order.

The report also said some cities installed cameras without proper approval or complete site files. Binyamina-Giv'at Ada continued filming public space around the clock with four cameras even after they stopped serving their original enforcement purpose, and it kept footage for 21 days, beyond the allowed maximum of ten working days. In Ramat Gan, about 256,000 suspected-offense events were deleted in 2024, but the city lacks records explaining why. In Hadera and Ramat Gan, there was no oversight of officers deleting suspected offenses. The audit further found that Binyamina-Giv'at Ada did not use masking techniques to blur passersby, Ramat Gan stored footage at a quality that allowed officers to identify people, and officers in Herzliya and Hadera could remove blurring during review. The municipalities said their camera supplier later blocked the ability to remove blurring at any stage.