Israel Government Authorizes its Security Agency to Monitor
Whereabouts of Individuals
In the fight against the proliferation of the Coronavirus, the
Israeli government has directed Israel's national security
agency (known as the General Security Service, or colloquially, the
Shabak) to use mobile network location data to monitor the
whereabouts of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 and the persons
they met with and possibly infected. This measure continues after
the Israeli Supreme Court weighed in and decided to generally
affirm the measure so long as it is done under parliamentary
oversight.
Under the National Security Agency Law, the government may
direct the agency to take on missions that promote the vital
interests of national security in Israel. Such missions are also
subject to parliamentary approval and oversight by the Secret
Services Sub-Committee of the Knesset. The Sub-Committee indeed
approved the government's directive to the national
