This is evident from answers from councilor Melanie van der Horst (Traffic) to written questions from councilors Elisabeth IJmker (GroenLinks) and Judith Krom (Party for the Animal Council member). According to Van der Horst, there are concerns about cybersecurity and the effect of the intelligent traffic lights on traffic flow is very limited. In addition, the maintenance costs of these traffic light systems are considerably higher than those of regular traffic lights. Supervisory Authority for Personal Data (AP) had previously expressed concerns about the use of smart traffic systems that collect a lot of personal data to ‘recognize’ road users. The regulator’s advice states, among other things, that the traffic lights make contact with the smartphone apps of road users, without them realizing this. Not well thought out According to the AP, the smart traffic lights can collect personal information from people on a large scale. ‘For example, it is possible to map entire journeys, including date, time and speed. Because road authorities (Rijkswaterstaat, provinces and municipalities) know where the traffic lights are, they can monitor road users.’ The road managers do not appear to have properly considered the privacy risks of the traffic lights, the regulator writes. It is also not always clear with whom the data is shared. The regulator already pointed out the risks of using smart traffic lights to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in 2021. The municipality of Amsterdam has conducted a trial with smart traffic lights in two places in the city. For example, they could give cyclists priority over cars in the rain. The trial will stop in 2023. “Based on the results, it has been decided to refrain from using it for the time being,” councilor Van der Horst wrote to the municipal council. It has not been announced at which locations the tests with the smart traffic lights were carried out. More efficient intersections It is striking that Van der Horst has now refrained from using smart traffic lights. A year ago, the municipality had plans to make every traffic light in the city ‘intelligent’. These traffic lights would use data to ‘recognise’ traffic better and could give priority to certain flows, such as cyclists, public transport and (heavy) freight traffic, so that traffic at busy intersections could be handled more efficiently. At the beginning of December, Van der Horst decided that scan cars should no longer be used to detect stolen cars. Concerns about privacy violations also played an important role in that decision. In other parts of the Netherlands, despite concerns about the privacy of road users, the use of smart traffic lights continues, for example in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, the province of Flevoland and in Den Bosch. RTL News has previously revealed that the tens of thousands of smart traffic lights in the Netherlands are vulnerable to hackers.
Source: www.autoweek.nl
