The Israeli elections are imminent, and so are the threats to our democracy. The threat comes from hackers, who may try to harm the elections or divert the results, and from digital information manipulators, spreading fake news and propaganda. Election hacking is just one example of the cyberthreats to our way of life. Another is the threat to our privacy from governments and corporations. GDPR and other privacy laws try to strengthen our control over our personal data. But are we also to take responsibility as individuals? One of the main bodies that’s in charge of our cybersecurity is the Israel National Cyber Directorate, which is problematic in many ways. It’s been functioning without a legal framework, and according to the draft of Israel’s cyber bill, it will be able to collect data from internet and cellular providers, government ministries, local authorities, etc., making it another spy agency.

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a research associate at the Federmann Cyber Security Center – Cyber Law Program, a senior fellow with the Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, and head of the Media Reform Program and Democracy in the Information Age, both with the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), is our guest on this episode of Lex Cybernetica, hosted by Ido Kenan.