Israel’s virus surveillance tool tests its democratic norms

TEL AVIV, Israel — In the early days of the pandemic, a panicked Israel began using a mass surveillance tool on its civilians, tracking people’s cellphones in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus. According to the Yediot Ahronot daily, the Shin Bet internal security service has used the tool for two decades, sweeping up metadata from anyone who uses telecom services in Israel. With the contact tracing capabilities of Israel’s Health Ministry limited, the Shin Bet was seen as the best option to pick up the slack, even though its own leaders were reluctant to deploy the tool. Michal Cotler-Wunsh, a legislator on the parliamentary committee overseeing the tool, said Israel’s reliance on the Shin Bet prevented it from moving toward more transparent civilian technology that could have done the job.