Controversy in Israel over the use of NSO’s infection rate app

Israeli spyware firm NSO, in co-operation with Israel Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has developed a new system for calculating the probability of citizens who will be infected by the Coronavirus. According to the Minister of Defense, the system will collect information about citizens in real-time, and assign each citizen an infection rating on a scale of 1 to 10. The Ministry of Justice opposed the use of the app, stating it involves transferring citizens’ private data  from the state to a private company. According to the ministry, the data needed for the app will be retrieved from the current Coronavirus surveillance system, which was just approved. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense will have to prove the necessity and benefits of the new app, in comparison to other state systems, before receiving legal approval in the matter.