Involvement of Shin Bet has raised concerns about adherence to democratic norms. FMTNews ShinBet
Shin Bet will use its counter-terrorism tech measures to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in Israel.
The measure was approved by the government under emergency regulations, overriding a parliamentary committee that on Monday had withheld final approval, saying it needed more time to ensure proper safeguarding. In a move to track the recent movements of carriers the government “authorised the Shin Bet to put its advanced technologies in the service of the national effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus”, a statement from the agency said Tuesday.“The Shin Bet is aware this is a task that goes beyond its routine anti-terror activities,” its chief, Nadav Argaman, said in the agency’s statement, adding that “oversight and regulating mechanisms” had been established.
The Shin Bet would also be able to use the location data of coronavirus carriers for the 14 days preceding their diagnosis “to identify their routes and the people with whom they came in contact with”, the leaked material said.Argaman said the information would be given to the health ministry and not stored by the Shin Bet.
Netanyahu defended his later emergency move, saying that “even an hour’s delay using these tools could lead to the death of many Israelis”. Michael Birnhack, a law professor at Tel Aviv University, said the coronavirus crisis has been steered into a security issue.“The intentions here are good, but the path is problematic. The fear is this will remain long after the crisis is over.”
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