Petitions concerning the constitutionality of some of the arrangements prescribed in the scope of the Criminal Procedure Act and enables the Israeli investigatory authorities to obtain communications data from all the communications companies – the various cellular or landline telephone companies and Internet providers. Obtaining those data does not include obtaining the content of the messages transmitted. The petitions essentially revolve around the right to privacy in the modern era. At the heart of the petitions is the balance between, on the one hand, concern regarding government’s over-intrusion into the individual’s life hand due to increasing technological abilities, and the importance of recognizing the advantages that technology provides as a tool to ensure security and public order on the other. The petitioners concentrated their constitutional arguments around the three main aspects of the Act: the ability to obtain a judicial order under section 3; the ability to obtain an administrative order without a court procedure under section 4; and the establishment of a database run by the investigatory authorities under sections 6 and 7.
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Translation thanks to Versa: The Website of the Israeli Supreme Court Project at Cardozo
