Israel Police purchased new surveillance software without AG approval | CTech
Summary
A year-and-a-half after the shutdown of NSOs Pegasus, Israel Police recently purchased new surveillance software from the Israeli cyber intelligence company Rayzone. The purchased tool, known as Echo, has to date been sold by Rayzone to intelligence organizations around the world and its use raises questions regarding law, privacy and technology. "Noting the need to carefully examine the compatibility of technological tools with the powers of the police, in view of the extent of the violation of fundamental rights, the police must make sure that before purchasing or independently developing a technological system with a new capability in terms of collecting or processing information, and that has the potential to deviate from the authority established by law, certainly before using it, it will require approval from the attorney general’s office," the conclusions of the Merari team from August of last year read. Rayzone knows how to reach this information, and the Echo software it developed knows how to connect the landmarks to identify the location of the target in space or the trajectory of their movement. The Ministry of Justice was asked, in light of the conclusions and recommendations in the Merari report, whether the attorney general’s office knew and approved in advance the purchase of the new surveillance tool from Rayzone?