Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Sunday evening that the government, with the assistance of the Shin Bet, cannot continue tracking the public through cell phone location data to ensure adherence to coronavirus regulations unless efforts begin to advance legislation on the issue.

The Health Ministry has used cellphone location and credit card purchase data since the coronavirus regulations began to track Israelis to locate those who had been within two meters of a diagnosed coronavirus carrier into self-quarantine.

The technology used to track Israeli citizens had only been previously used for counter-terrorism efforts.

The tracking was met with much controversy from the public due to the invasion of privacy it entailed.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)