In a democratic society, every individual has the right to live in privacy, without fearing the intervention of outside bodies or the disclosure of intimate, personal information to the public. In Israel, it is forbidden to invade the physical space of individuals, their homes, or their belongings, or to listen to conversations or read correspondence they have written, without their permission. In the absence of a written constitution, Israel has enshrined the right to privacy in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. At the same time, Israeli law stipulates that certain scenarios justify invasions of privacy, if the information revealed has significance for the public or if the individuals involved violated legal, ethical or professional obligations.
In the digital age, a wide range of information has been collected on citizens in public and private databases. In Israel specifically, the government is working to establish several databases containing sensitive personal information on all members of society including the National Medical Registry, a Biometric Database for the Interior Ministry, and a registry of contact information for use by the Police. ACRI works in the courts, the Knesset, and with the public administration to reduce invasions of privacy, to ensure human rights are protected in the development of new technologies, and to limit the ability of different actors to collect information and to use it inappropriately.
Resources on the Right to Privacy:
ACRI: Proposed Biometric Database Would Invade Israelis’ Privacy to an Unprecedented Degree, August 2008
