Privacy concerns of Israel using cell phone data to track people with coronavirus

Israel hasn’t been hit as hard by the COVID-19 outbreak as countries like China, Italy, or even neighboring Iran. Israel’s health ministry said today that more than 300 Israelis have tested positive for COVID-19, and there are no deaths. The Palestinians say they’ve diagnosed 41 people in the West Bank, and none in the Gaza Strip.

But Israel is still taking drastic steps to track the movement of people who’ve tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including tapping into a secret cache of cellphone data. It’s raising big concerns about privacy and government intrusion.