Israel considers extending emergency changes to biometric data sharing policy

There are qualms in Israel about emergency policy changes being sought for biometric identification.

According to one local report, it appears that the government might be using its war with Hamas to hold on to citizens’ face- and fingerprint records longer and for purposes beyond identifying those killed, missing and abducted.

An article in Calcalist, a business and technology publication, says officials enacted emergency rules that allow government workers – including, for the first time, police and security agencies — to use the national biometric database to search for the identities of war casualties.

The government would like to also enable the Population and Immigration Authority to use the face and fingerprint database, although at a lower resolution.

That would be a first for the 7 million-person database. There is no sharing of identifiers with police or the immigration agency now. Officers can ask the National Biometric Database Authority to perform a face match, which occurs out of sight of police.

Amendments to regulations would change sharing policies, but also how long police can have access to the database. Right now, emergency rules are overriding past laws and are seen as very short-term tactics.

Officials want this ad hoc expansion to last one year. The concern is, first, that opening access to biometrics will make misuse and theft more likely.

Then there is the worry that a temporary extension to one year could become permanent. That would increase security threats and it could change how the government views civilians’ privacy altogether, according to the article.

Article Topics

biometric database  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  data privacy  |  data sharing  |  Israel