APNews | Israel has long been
known for its use of technology to track the movements of Palestinian
militants. Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to use similar
technology to stop the movement of the coronavirus.
Netanyahu’s
Cabinet on Sunday authorized the Shin Bet security agency to use its
phone-snooping tactics on coronavirus patients, an official confirmed,
despite concerns from civil-liberties advocates that the practice would
raise serious privacy issues. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity pending an official announcement.
Netanyahu
announced his plan in a televised address late Saturday, telling the
nation that the drastic steps would protect the public’s health, though
it would also “entail a certain degree of violation of privacy.”
Israel has identified more than 200 cases of the coronavirus. Based on
interviews with these patients about their movements, health officials
have put out public advisories ordering tens of thousands of people who
may have come into contact with them into protective home quarantine.
The new plan would
use mobile-phone tracking technology to give a far more precise history
of an infected person’s movements before they were diagnosed and
identify people who might have been exposed.
In
his address, Netanyahu acknowledged the technology had never been used
on civilians. But he said the unprecedented health threat posed by the
virus justified its use. For most people, the coronavirus causes only
mild or moderate symptoms. But for some, especially older adults and
people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.
0 comments:
Post a Comment