ByTOBIAS SIEGAL

The personal information of about 140,000 confirmed coronavirus patients in Israel was sent to the Shin Bet (Israel's Security Agency) without notifying them - in a clear and serious violation of several privacy laws.

In a letter sent to Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Friday, Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Zvi Hauser (Derech Eretz) referred to the unusual incident as a "serious malfunction" and said that it will have an "unbearable negative effect on the public's trust" in the government. 

Hauser wrote that the issue was the "result of a computer glitch originating in the Health Ministry," leading to 140,000 patients not being notified that their information has been sent to the Shin Bet and will be used to monitor them through "technological means," or surveillance through cell phones.

The law that allows the Shin Bet to assist in the national effort of combating the spread of the coronavirus by monitoring confirmed patients, requires the Health Ministry to send a detailed notification of the decision to the patients in question before it can be implemented.

Hauser noted that the incident was especially serious, because it continued for about a month before being exposed only today.

In his letter, Hauser urged Edelstein to send over additional details regarding the source of the malfunction. He also asked the ministry to address the steps that it plans on implementing in order to reduce the "damages caused by this negligence," and to provide additional "steps that will be taken to prevent a similar incident in the future."

"In order to reduce the unbearable negative effect on the public's trust due to this serious malfunction, I will ask to receive these details urgently, so I can examine the implications of this issue at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee," Hauser concluded his letter.

The Health Ministry responded by notifying Hauser that it plans on retroactively notifying some of the patients that their information was sent to the Shin Bet.

Former chairman of the Association of Public Health Physician, Prof. Hagai Levine, who recently joined the Telem Paty headed by MK Moshe Ya'alon, also criticized the Health Ministry and called on the government to "immediately stop the use of surveillance by the Shin Bet." 

"A serious malfunction was reported in the illegal surveillance of confirmed coronavirus patients," Prof. Levine wrote. "As doctors we've warned several times that the public's trust is a critical component in dealing with the pandemic. We shouldn't get used to Shin Bet surveillance that has led to many unnecessary isolations and severe damage to the public's trust. Epidemiological inquiries save lives," he added.