Israel to use ‘anti-terrorism’ tech to monitor infected citizens, as Netanyahu declares ‘war’ on coronavirus
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he was given a go-ahead to deploy invasive digital surveillance tools to track coronavirus patients, sparking privacy concerns and fears the move will be used to suppress dissent.
Dubbing the rapidly spreading Covid-19 “an invisible enemy” with which Israel is currently in a state of “war”, Netanyahu said Sunday he would ask the government to allow law enforcement to deploy “technologies used in the war against terror” to make sure coronavirus-hit citizens don’t breach quarantine.
The Israeli Justice Ministry is already on board with the proposal, he said.
Acknowledging that new ‘Big Brother’ measures would constitute an infringement on citizens’ privacy, Netanyahu justified the move by arguing that it was for a greater public good.
"There is a certain invasion of the privacy of those people, where we will check who they came in contact with, including while sick, what came before that, what came after."
Netanyahu’s militaristic stance on combating the disease has spawned backlash on social media. Netizens argued that with the pending rollout of new Orwellian surveillance measures, Netanyahu opens “a scary Pandora’s box” further cementing Israel’s reputation of a “security state.”
https://www.rt.com/usa/483157-israel-coronavirus-terrorism-netanyahu/