Reforming the Law from the Ground Up: Recent Developments in Israel’s Privacy Regulation

Abstract:     
For many years, Israel’s privacy and data protection law, which dates back to 1981, did not figure prominently in compliance programs of domestic and foreign companies operating in Israel, due to scarce enforcement activity and low public awareness. The establishment of the Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority (ILITA) in 2006 and its active enforcement stance have changed this. In a period of just 2-3 years, amid a flurry of regulatory and individual enforcement activity, data protection has become a significant factor for compliance officers and chief information officers in Israel, particularly in the data-rich financial services, telecom and health sectors. With the EU data protection regulators’ ‘‘adequacy’’ opinion and the decision of global regulators to be hosted in Jerusalem for their 32nd annual conference, Israel catapulted to the center of global attention.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 4

Keywords: Israel, privacy, data protection, compliance, enforcement, data security

JEL Classification: K23

Accepted Paper Series