Intel Center: PA has its own new coronavirus surveillance app

Less powerful than Shin Bet, but formidable

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
A woman wears a mask and checks her mobile phone as she stands next to a poster in central Tel Aviv, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Israel April 14, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
A woman wears a mask and checks her mobile phone as she stands next to a poster in central Tel Aviv, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Israel April 14, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
The Palestinian Authority Preventive Security Force cyber unit in Hebron has developed an app to track coronavirus infection trends, according to one of its officers, the Meir Amit Intelligence Terrorism and Information Center reported.
The app tracks the movement of active cases through their smartphones and with electronic surveillance, the officer said.
Although the methodology and capabilities are not likely as advanced as those used by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), they could still be formidable, former Shin Bet cyber unit officer Harel Menashri told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.
The PA cyber unit’s relations with Palestinian telecommunications companies is a key element, he said.
Menashri, head of cyber at the Holon Institute of Technology, said all telecommunications companies have vast amounts of data about where their clients are and who they interact with.
According to the PA cyber unit officer, given the sharp rise in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, the PA could use the app to send people a warning if they violate a quarantine order.
The Preventive Security Force director of operations in Hebron said the app had been developed in accordance with international standards and with the supervision of legal advisers, the intelligence center reported.
The PA officer said the app would be used to monitor active cases only when they were quarantined at home and up to a distance of 30 meters from their homes, according to the report.
In recent years, even less-advanced countries and regimes have moved forward with new cyber capabilities, and many are making advances to contend with the pandemic.
The Shin Bet has abilities beyond detection of citizens’ movements, but not too much should be revealed publicly, Menashri said.
The PA cyber unit likely had general tracking and data-access capabilities by working with their telecommunications industry, he said, adding that the Shin Bet capabilities went beyond mere general access to this kind of data.
Recently, the Post reported that the Intelligence Ministry is using new data-mining and data-science techniques to address a variety of military and civilian issues that previously could not be analyzed in such a way.
Besides the cyber issue, the Meir Amit Center report charted the spike in coronavirus cases in the West Bank, especially in Hebron, compared with the Gaza Strip, where it has been much more limited.
Active cases of coronavirus in the West Bank were approaching 7,500, while also increasing in east Jerusalem, the report said.
There is ongoing tension between Israel and the PA over security coordination and general cooperation or breaking off of contact relating to the coronavirus and disputes about any potential future move by Israel to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, the report said.


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