Israel is Now Hacking People’s Phones to Contain the Coronavirus
Damascus Gate, entrance into Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter. @jonspezzi.
By: Jonathan Stormer Pezzi
New York — The Israeli government and its security agencies have began deploying cellphone-monitoring technology, enabling the Shin Bet security service to tap into cellular data to retrace the movements of those infected by the Coronavirus. This will allow authorities to track who the patients likely came in contact with before their quarantine and will also ensure infected individuals do not break isolation measures.
The technology has been existence for some time, normally used for anti-terrorism activities against Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
However, this will be the first known time that the technology will be used against Israeli citizens.
According to Reuters, the cyber monitoring normally requires parliamentary approval and judicial oversight, however, Prime Minister Netanyahu circumvented the process by invoking the emergency orders.
“We are in the most dramatic of days,” Bennett said on Sunday. “I prefer to violate the rights of the individual in a controlled way and under significant civil control measures - to save lives,” said Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.
“I know that there are some people in Israel who are against Big Brother, but I’m not concerned… It’s an invasion of privacy and I hope that once we get over this terrible epidemic, we will stop using it,” Bennett went on.
Per the Jerusalem Post, Israel has allocated millions to technological development, including facial recognition technology.
The security establishment has credited the new technologies with preventing numerous terror attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, however the shift in application will now lead to the arrest of civilians within Israel’s official borders.
So far, the police have said that 72 criminal investigations were opened against Israelis who violated quarantine orders. They also said tougher measures will be used to promote public health. One man in Tel Aviv was arrested for a quarantine violation this week, and many more are likely to come.
Expectedly, when criticized, the government has responded that the threat outweighs the privacy concerns.
Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo by @jonspezzi
Israel’s Transportaion Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, objected to the decision at first, saying “it really is a slippery slope”. Eventually changed his mind for reasons unknown, claiming that the procedure has “many oversights including criminal charges should anyone use this information for other things.”
He later declared, “For me human rights and privacy are very important, but this is a must.”
Not surprisingly, this move has garnered severe criticism by groups such as the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, who called the decision "a dangerous precedent and a slippery slope”. The monitoring may also be challenged in court. The Joint List and the human rights NGO Adalah urged the Supreme Court to stop the surveillance.