20 Israelis sue Likud, Elector over app breach leaking voter data

"These security breaches are the equivalent to the defendant leaving the keys under the doormat with a huge sign reading 'spare keys under the doormat.'"

By AARON REICH
Herzliya Magistrate's Court. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Herzliya Magistrate's Court.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Twenty Israelis are suing the Likud Party and the Elector app for NIS 1 million due to the data breach leaking the data of over six million Israelis and violating their privacy, Israeli media reported.
The lawsuit was filed Sunday morning at the Herzliya Magistrate's Court.
According to the plaintiffs, leaking private information – which included names, identification numbers, phone numbers and addresses – could lead to future employment challenges for citizens due to their documented political alignments.
"When the security breach occurred, the defendants [Likud and Elector] failed to correct them, causing further harm," the lawsuit reads.
"We will only find out full ramifications of the data breaches in the future," it continued, adding that similar events in the past have led to identity theft and risks to national security.
The plaintiffs further stated that even though Likud and Elector gathered the voter data, it wasn't properly secured, which led to the data breach.
"These security breaches were not exploited by sophisticated hackers and methods, but are the equivalent to the defendant leaving the keys under the doormat with a huge sign reading 'spare keys under the doormat,'" the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also demands a permanent injunction requiring the deletion of all the leaked data, even if received by an unrelated third-party company.
"The lawsuit has been filed after law enforcement authorities have failed," explained attorney Jonathan Klinger, who is representing the plaintiffs, according to TheMarker. "Although the leak happened three weeks ago, the state allows parties to continue to operate these systems that harm us all."
Multiple parties made use of the Elector app, such as Yisrael Beytenu and Labor, but only Likud went so far as to outsource the entire voter data.

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Last week, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo warned that the Elector app used by the Likud Party is a "real, tangible danger" to Israeli security, as anyone with an Israeli SIM card can download the app and have access to voter data, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Pardo called Elector "coronavirus for security," explaining that the moment a person's info is put into the app, and they can see their information and other people's information, it "develops like a plague."
Tzvi Joffre contributed to this report.


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