Israeli MoH To Disclose Personal Data Of Unvaccinated Individuals To Local Authorities

• Published date: 02 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Privacy, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Data Protection, Privacy Protection, Reporting and Compliance
• Law Firm: Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz
• Author: Mr Haim Ravia, Dotan Hammer and Adi Shoval

The Israeli legislature (the "Knesset") passed an amendment to the Public Health Ordinance, authorizing the Israeli Ministry of Health ("MoH") to disclose personal data of individuals not vaccinated for COVID-19 to local authorities and the Ministries of Education and Labor so that they can encourage COVID-19 vaccination.

Before the amendment was enacted by the Knesset, it was published for public comments for 24 hours only, during which over 13,000 comments were submitted. The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority also expressed its objections to the amendment, noting that disclosing individuals' health information without their consent violates their right to privacy. It also argued that less intrusive alternatives should be considered, such as transferring aggregated data for specific sectors in the population that refuse to be vaccinated, thereby allowing...