Israel Declares Independence of Privacy Protection Authority in Ministry of Justice

The Israeli government passed a resolution on October 2, 2022, declaring the independence of the Privacy Protection Authority in the Ministry of Justice as it pertains to the exercise of its authorities and the fulfillment of its roles. This resolution regarding the Privacy Protection Authority’s independence does not change the current work interfaces between the Privacy Protection Authority and the Ministry of Justice or change any other aspect.

Rather, this declaration was issued against the backdrop of a review process currently underway by the European Commission in relation to Israel. This review process concerns a decision on whether to renew the “adequacy status” granted to Israel by the European Commission in 2011 as a country whose level of data protection is on par with Europe’s data protection regulation (the General Data Protection Regulation). This status is granted to a limited number of countries around the world and has considerable economic significance for the Israeli economy, as well as importance in terms of Israel’s foreign relations. Since the Privacy Protection Authority’s independence is a key issue in the European Commission’s review of Israeli law, the purpose of the declaration is to address this aspect of the European Commission’s review process.

Privacy Protection Authority’s Principal Roles

In addition to issuing this declaration, the government resolution also specifies the Privacy Protection Authority’s principal roles, as an open list. Among the roles specified are investigations of suspected violations of the Privacy Protection Law in relation to databases handling of complaints from the public relating to mishandling of information.

The listing of the Privacy Protection Authority’s roles does not change the current situation either, since the Privacy Protection Law already specifies these roles and the Privacy Protection Authority is already carrying them out.

Moreover, this new government resolution changes the qualifications for holding office as the head of the Privacy Protection Authority and limits the term of office to a single six-year term.