The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) sent a letter today to the Attorney General, following recent reports that several foreign nationals who landed in Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport were required to allow General Security Service (“Shin Bet”) investigators to invade their email accounts.
In the letter, Attorney Lila Margalit notes that Israeli law prohibits “invading computer materials” without a specific warrant from a judge (even when carrying out a legal search in a person’s home, a specific warrant is required in order to invade computer materials). Attorney Margalit emphasizes that there is no legal directive authorizing the Shin Bet to invade computer materials without a warrant, and there is certainly no directive authorizing the Shin Bet to require that a person provide his or her email account details for it to be searched. “Considering the above, and considering the severe injury to privacy and to human dignity, we ask that you instruct the Shin Bet regarding the illegality of this practice.”
