TRT World  February 17, 2026

At least three Israeli companies reportedly operate information derived from vehicles for surveillance purposes.

Israeli companies are using advanced cyber tools to hack into digital systems of cars to spy on people inside and track the vehicle’s movement, the Haaretz newspaper said on Tuesday. “These tools can also assist in a cross-referencing of data to identify an intelligence target among tens of thousands of cars on the road,” the daily said. An investigation by the paper found that at least three Israeli firms operate a system called CARINT (car intelligence), which uses data generated by connected vehicles for surveillance. One of these companies, Toka, even developed an “offensive” tool that could tap into a car’s microphones and cameras to collect information. This company was co-founded by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former army cyber chief Yaron Rosen. Its cyber tool is used to access a specific vehicle’s multimedia systems, pinpoint its location, and track its movements. This tool can remotely access the microphone of the car’s hands-free system, allowing eavesdropping on the driver and tapping into cameras installed on the dashboard or around the car.

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“In recent decades, our cars have become smart devices, a collection of computers on wheels with dozens of digital systems; the vehicle cannot properly function without an internet or cellular connection,” Haaretz reported. “Though this vastly improves the driving experience, it also severely risks privacy and has become a national security threat.” Israel has long used technology to launch attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, dispossess Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and carry out genocide. Israel used Amazon’s cloud service and artificial intelligence (AI) tools from Microsoft and Google for military purposes amid the increasing amount of data on Palestinians during its Gaza genocide. Microsoft acknowledged in March last year that it sold advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during its genocide in Gaza. The Israeli military started using advanced facial recognition technology to track Palestinians in the occupied West Bank using a smartphone technology called ‘Blue Wolf’.

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