The Public Council for the Protection of Privacy today appealed to the Prime Minister to refrain from establishing a biometric database. This is due to a serious fear of information leakage from the database and serious harm to citizens' privacy
The Public Council for the Protection of Privacy appealed to the Prime Minister yesterday (Wed) with a request to refrain from establishing a biometric database. This is due to a serious fear of information leakage from the database and serious harm to citizens' privacy.
The biometric database is currently part of the bill, "Identity card, travel document and biometric database". However, as the Council for the Protection of Privacy claims, it is not necessary to establish a central database in order to issue smart identity cards. There are simpler and more appropriate alternatives to prevent fraud in the issuance process. Thus, for example, in Germany identity cards and biometric passports are issued without a central database due to fear of excessive concentration of powers and violation of individual rights.6
The council stated: "From its very inception, the planned biometric database constitutes a serious violation of the basic constitutional right to privacy. However, serious and irreversible harm will occur if and when information is leaked from the database."
The council also stated that the establishment of the reservoir, its maintenance and security are expected to impose a heavy budgetary burden. In the countries where the possibility of establishing similar reservoirs was considered, the costs were estimated at huge sums of billions of dollars.
The Public Council for the Protection of Privacy is appointed by the Minister of Justice. Its members are experts in the fields of technology and law, and come from the ranks of the public sector, academia, the private market, and civil society. The council expresses its opinion on aspects of privacy and information security of bills and government actions, and accompanies the work of the registrar of the databases. The members of the council are: Dr. Nachman Oron, Dr. Michael Birnhak, Mr. Avner Ben Ephraim, Adv. Dan Chai, Dr. Omer Tana, Dr. Naama Karmi, Adv. Dr. Avner Pinchuk, Dr. Bracha Shapira.
As I remember last week, the special ministerial committee for the issues of the biometrics law approved for a second and third reading the law and the biometric database sections in it. At the last minute, and according to summaries reached in advance, the proposal of MK Avraham Michaeli (Shas) passed, according to which the Minister of the Interior, Eli Yishai (Shas), would be allowed to establish separating regulations, and thus two separate biometric databases would be established. However, due to a filibuster - a delay - by members of Kadima in countless debates on the Mofaz law, the Knesset plenum did not have time to discuss the law and the vote was postponed until the next session of the Knesset.
As I recall, Minister Michael Eitan (Likud) made many efforts to change the section in the law that talks about the establishment of one central repository. The Ministerial Committee for Legislation discussed the law and decided at the beginning of the week to establish a subcommittee to discuss Minister Eitan's reservations. Yesterday, the chairman of the Knesset's science and technology committee, MK Meir Shetrit, announced that he is returning the law to the government since the committee he heads has finished its work on the issue. In doing so, MK Shitrit blocked the intention of several members of the Knesset to delay the approval of the law and make changes to it.
Minister Eitan said in response that "it is better that the biometric database is not established at all and it would be good if all the measures that Minister Yishai is talking about were reflected in legislation. The worst part is the promises made, according to which a renewed discussion will be held at the time the regulations are installed. The legislation is not an irreversible move - the struggle is not over."
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Itnersent commercial parties are pushing this law with all their might.
For example, a company like HP will earn huge sums as a result of the enactment of such a law,
And so she has been fighting to implement it for a long time.
Their CEO even threatened a lawsuit to the court for not implementing the law..
Apparently he found the golden path - how to push the law against all logic.
(I wonder why Minister Sheetrit is pushing this law so hard? No answer will surprise you..)
In a reformed country where they would like to advance technologically, things are simple.
Appoint a professional and external group of consultants
(like the respected head of the faculty from the Technion and others)
Let them formulate a proposal, what needs to be done in order to improve the situation, and move forward from there.
However, in our country, the interested parties rule....
The people who will benefit from this law have shrewd lobbyists in the Knesset,
Knesset members are paid 'under the table' - in order for them to advance laws,
And so we remain a third world country.
It pains me to the depths of my soul that such a law, a law that will cost huge sums - has come into effect.
As a result, many public funds will go (again) to private hands. (in vain)
If such a law is really needed, it can be implemented in a more professional and appropriate manner
and at a much lower cost.
The citizens of the country should not be harmed due to a racist law
The leakage of the biometric databases is a fact that is known in advance
The Ministry of the Interior has a very bad record when it comes to database security
There is a petition:
http://www.atzuma.co.il/petition/mahadeva/1
Address all members of the Knesset:
http://no2bio.org/home/action.html#action-1
"Translation" of Gonzo's words, forgive me if I was not precise...
"Obviously we are guinea pigs... this is one step that brings us closer to total government control.
Some time ago I went to prison for an act I did not do, I managed to get out with the help of an alibi and other evidence. With the new law I would never go out, without a problem they could say they found a fingerprint or something and hey I live in the area, they didn't even have to fake it!"
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Hmmm…
Destructive power and absolute power is a great thing. 😉
Imagine V's attempt to attack the government in such a situation... (from the movie "V for Vendetta")
Is the state for the citizen or the citizen for the state?
(State = ruling elite?)
barur she anahn shfanei nisui… ze tsaad ehad she mekarev otanu le shlita muhletet shel ha memsala.
lifnei kama zman nihnasti la kele al maheu she lo asiti, itslahti latset beezzrat alibi ve od ohahot. im ha hok ha hadash ba haim lo aiti iotse, bli beaia aiu ieholim leagid she matsu tviat etsba o mashu ve hei ani gar ba ezor lo aiu trihim afilu lezaief et ze!
Eliram, there was a segment like this in "The Man of Destruction": Snipes put out a scientist's eye to break out of court... I'm afraid that by breaking into a database of fingerprints and facial images, one won't be able to penetrate the Shin Bet facilities...
Is it possible to copy the fingerprint today? In the near future?
On the other hand, I read in the newspaper about a policeman who changed the license plate to another one belonging to a car of the same model and color and thus for four years "celebrated"... If, in order to start driving the car, he had to verify the driver's identity against the database... We can also mention the unfortunate case in which the girl The young woman died in a hit and run accident in Herzliya some time ago. The two young men who were driving the offending Jeep dragged the trial by shifting the blame from one to the other. Another example is "smart guns" that read the fingerprint of the shooter and thus can only be used by certain people.
Of course, for these examples you don't need a single national database...
Another example is from the movie "What Happened in Gatka": things got complicated due to an eyelash falling where it shouldn't have fallen...
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Eliram, I am not aware of the way thieves work... I am aware of the existence of a fingerprint identification unit in the police. I almost served it in my military service. They have enough work…
The police do not need to call for an investigation... just monitor the conduct of the people a year or two later... if one of the people suddenly "received a gift"...
It is difficult to determine whether the addition of personnel will really improve security... and in particular, relative to the pool.
The risk of exposure is indeed real. I assume that when one gets a new identity, the database will be updated... but if a hostile party has a copy of the database before the update...
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What is the motive of those behind the law?
My bet is that the captains are using us as guinea pigs for the US…
This tool is definitely not realistic.
The repository is truly a double-edged sword,
The question is who will have permission and who will approve the release of data from him.
There is nothing to blame the tool but the user in this case.
And it is possible that today we really are not reliable enough to use such a tool.
Richard, make no mistake, this database will do nothing for police work.
A. Thieves work with gloves.
B. Even if there is a particularly stupid thief and he leaves a clear fingerprint, there will still be about 700 citizens who will match this fingerprint in the database. Do you think the police will summon 700 citizens for questioning in every break-in? Not even 50.
third. An addition of 300 police officers will benefit personal security 1000 times more than the establishment of this pool (and will cost much less).
d. All the agents of the Mossad in the world and all the police undercovers will be easily exposed in the case of a leak of the database. Do you feel safer?
Yuval, the danger right now is that they will be able to tell who you are by taking a random picture of a crowd. But the real danger is not now, but let's say in 10, 20 years. Even if in the future they want to use biometric identification means for, for example, permission to enter security facilities, the establishment of a database and its leakage will prevent such a possibility, because anyone can easily impersonate the head of the Shin Bet.
To the same extent, they can withdraw money from your bank account and you have to prove that it wasn't you, didn't they use your fingerprint.
And in that case (ask people that someone uses a fake ID in their name and live in a nightmare) you won't even be able to change the fingerprint and certainly not the face.
The immediate danger is that when the police take fingerprints at a crime scene, for example in some store where you shopped the previous day, you become a suspect.
When a car runs a red light at an intersection with a camera, all the owners of the vehicles in the photo are asked to come to the police station and testify that it is their car, even if they did not run the red light. At least that's how it was at the time.
I am in favor of actions to increase personal security at the expense of individual rights. The State of Israel is not doing enough to prevent crime. Admittedly, I would prefer prevention through education and not through "high-tech".
And what will happen if the database is hacked and everyone knows what my fingerprint/retinal/voice is?
Where is the danger here?
Already today the population register is circulating on the net.
It has nothing to do with the State of Israel.
The USA (=the big corporations that rule the world, every time Obama says the interest of the USA he means the interest of the top billion) has an interest in turning humans into robots as much as possible.