חוק הכללת אמצעי זיהוי ביומטריים ונתוני זיהוי ביומטריים במסמכי זיהוי ובמאגר מידע (תיקון והוראת שעה), התשע"ז-2017Law on Integration of Biometric Identification Means and Biometric Identification Data in Identification Documents and in an Information Database (Amendment and temporary provision), 2017 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

What the sponsors propose

The bill seeks to amend the arrangements in the Inclusion of Biometric Identification Means Law of 2009, ahead of its application to all residents of the state at the end of the trial period. According to the sponsors, following the findings of the trial period and the conclusions of the advisory committee, the Minister became convinced that a biometric database is necessary to achieve its purpose - preventing impersonation and identity theft and ensuring the reliability of smart documentation. It is therefore proposed that the database will permanently include facial feature images, and as a temporary provision for five years - also fingerprint images of residents who consented to this in writing, and provisions are established regarding the validity of identification documents, automated identity verification, temporary retention of information for inspections, and oversight and control mechanisms.

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An automatic summary of the explanatory notes written by the bill's sponsors. These are their arguments, not an official Knesset summary. · The bill on the Knesset website

What was said in the plenum

The law permanently regulates (with a five-year temporary provision regarding fingerprints) the inclusion of biometric data - facial images and fingerprints - in identification documents and in a government database, continuing a trial period that began in 2013, with the aim of preventing identity forgery and the duplicate acquisition of documents. The debate centered on whether there is justification and need for a central biometric database alongside the smart identification documents themselves, and on concerns about possible breach of the database, harm to privacy and misuse of data, alongside the compromise arrangements that were adopted (voluntary fingerprinting, limited validity of documents, the possibility of deletion, and a future review of canceling the database).

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An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. Transcripts of the sittings: 1, 2

Reservations to the second reading

55 reservations were filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations mainly sought to limit and reduce the use of the biometric database and the police powers related to it, to extend or shorten the duration of the temporary provision, to strengthen the status of the joint Knesset committee and the requirement for personal consent, and to add protections for citizens' privacy.

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By faction

• Zionist Union opposition · 39 reservations · 24 members
• Joint List opposition · 39 reservations · 13 members
• Meretz opposition · 39 reservations · 5 members
• Yisrael Beytenu coalition · 10 reservations · 4 members
• Yesh Atid opposition · 6 reservations · 2 members
• Likud coalition · 1 reservation · 1 member

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it.

Asked to speak: Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), Yoav Kisch (Likud), Nurit Koren (Likud), Michael Malkieli (Shas)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF)