Pr-Hof Law

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What Constitutes a Privacy Violation?

The Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981 lists eleven activities, which absent informed consent, constitute a violation of a person’s privacy. These activities include, for example, tracking and harassing a person, taking a photograph of a person in a private domain, publishing a demeaning photograph of a person, using a person’s likeness or voice or image for commercial purposes, a violation of confidentiality in relation to a person’s private matters and using or sharing information about a person’s private affairs for otherwise than for the purpose for which it was given (See: “What Must a Privacy Notice Include?”).

A privacy violation is a civil offense. A court may award a claimant up to NIS 100,000 per violation. Individuals may also file class actions for privacy violations. In certain cases, if the violation was willful, a privacy violation would constitute a criminal offence as well, which could result in a sentence of up to 5 years imprisonment.

The Law also establishes certain defenses against claims for privacy violations (See: “Are there Defenses Against Claims for Privacy Violation?”).