In a recent statement issued by the Privacy Protection Authority, the authority called for the immediate implementation of the Health Ministry's refurbished application "Hamagen 2.0" ("Shield 2.0") used to track coronavirus patients, citing grave risks to privacy in relying on other means, such as Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) surveillance.
For the first time since its inception in 2006, the authority, legally appointed under a new law authorizing the Shin Bet to participate in the national effort to fight the coronavirus, was requested to present its official stance on privacy risks and concerns pertaining to the use of various tracking tools currently employed by the government in the battle against coronavirus - in particular, the means used by the Shin Bet.The official stance was presented to the ministerial team responsible for combating the coronavirus. The ministers are required by law to take into consideration the authority's stance before making a decision about the continued use of Shin Bet's tracking tools. The Privacy Protection Authority, operating under the Justice Ministry, argued that the current means employed by the government to detect those who came into possible contact with coronavirus patients pose an enormous privacy risk to all citizens. It further stressed that Shin Bet's tools were not originally intended for such purposes. As for other supplementary measures that are currently under consideration, the authority believes that they should be subjected to a wider scrutiny intended to examine their ultimate impact on people's privacy.
According to the 35-page document detailing the authority's stance, the "Shield 2.0" application is considered to be less harmful in terms of privacy violations in comparison to other tools. It is further noted that none of the current technological solutions that are on the table are perfect; but, the new version of the application is considered to be the least pernicious and should be used along with the epidemiological investigations.
In referring to the "Shield 2.0" application the authority claimed that the application was designed in accordance with strict privacy principles in mind, but in such a manner that would also allow the ministry to properly track the infected. The latest version of the application was specifically designed to account for the both location and the physical proximity of infected individuals sick with the coronavirus. This, according to the statement, is likely to dramatically improve detection efficiency. While it is still far from perfect and needs certain technological and data privacy adjustments, it is still considered to be a better solution in comparison to other means currently in effect. As of now, the application has not yet been officially launched.