Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet said Tuesday it has been mandated to collect information about citizens to fight the spread of the deadly coronavirus, a task it was undertaking with "immediate" effect.
Involvement of the spy agency in tackling the pandemic has raised concerns about adherence to democratic norms, with one legal expert fearing it harms "trust and legitimacy" and an analyst describing it as a "dangerous precedent".
The measure was approved by the government under emergency regulations, overriding a parliamentary committee that on Monday had withheld final approval, saying it needed more time to ensure proper safeguarding.
Tightening already strict measures to fight the spread of COVID 19, the Israeli health ministry on Tuesday ordered the country's residents to stay in their home except for "essential" reasons, barring them from visiting friends and family or taking a walk in the park.
It said that exceptions to the directive were going out to buy food or medicine, seeking medical attention, or travelling to workplaces where no more than 10 people are present.
In a move to track the recent movements of carriers the government "authorised the Shin Bet to put its advanced technologies in the service of the national effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus," a statement from the agency said Tuesday.
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A Shin Bet spokesperson separately told AFP that the policy had taken "immediate" effect.
"The Shin Bet is aware this is a task that goes beyond its routine anti-terror activities," its chief, Nadav Argaman, said in the agency's statement, adding that "oversight and regulating mechanisms" had been established.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office refused to provide details about the monitoring techniques to be used.
But copies of the emergency regulations leaked to Israeli media showed that police would be able to retrieve location data of coronavirus carriers -- as well as quarantined people -- from phone companies, without a court order.
The Shin Bet would also be able to use the location data of coronavirus carriers for the 14 days preceding their diagnosis "to identify their routes and the people with whom they came in contact with," the leaked material said.
Argaman said the information would be given to the health ministry and not stored by the Shin Bet.
Gabi Ashkenazi, who heads the parliamentary committee that withheld approval, said Tuesday that using Shin Bet against the virus was not appropriate "without parliamentary and public supervision."
"The intentions here are good, but the path is problematic. The fear is this will remain long after the crisis is over."