On October the 29th, the Biometric Databases Bill passed its first call in the Israeli parliament. The bill requires all Israeli citizens to submit finger prints and facial photos to the Israeli government where they will be stored in a database and on an electronic chip. The chip will be embedded in one’s ID.

The law passed by a vote of eighteen representatives of the colonial government and requires all citizens of Israel to submit their finger prints and photos to authorities, or face up to one year in jail. Furthermore, the database can be used freely by the Israeli secret police and military without the approval of a court.

According to one representative of the apartheid government, the law is meant to stop the forgery of identification cards; adding that those who oppose this bill are “either terrorists or criminals”. Civil organizations, however, argued that the law would be a major threat to civil rights and that the clear excess to it by security forces will be an attack on privacy.

This bill follows another law passed in November 2007 which allows the police to establish a phone database of citizen’s suspected of criminal activity. The database includes telephone numbers and other contact information. This grants the police the ability to spy on people’s locations and on who they are communicating with.

Read more | IDF asks police, Shin Bet for info on left-wing figures active in W. Bank |