The Cyber Department of the State Attorney's Office has filed an indictment in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court against Michael Meiri, a 69-year-old resident of the area, and Ronen Izak, a 56-year-old resident of Ashkelon, for violating privacy, managing a prohibited database and using information fraudulently, fraud and deceit. After distributing software containing information on about 9.5 million citizens of the country.
According to the indictment filed by attorney Satyu Grossman, between 2008 and 2018, the defendants edited, marketed and distributed software that constituted a pool of approximately 136 million records relating to approximately 9.5 million citizens of the State of Israel, including citizens who died They are accused of having built the database of the "Fox" software filled with less than 38 databases and various databases, including "Agron", which consists of data from the Ministry of the Interior's population registry.
Defendants marketed the software to many clients, including attorneys and private investigators, for a monthly or annual fee, and these used the software and its information to promote their business. During the relevant period, Michael Meiri marketed the "Fox" software to about 527 different customers, and Ronen Isaac marketed it to about 257 customers. From the sale of access to the software, Michael Meiri generated an estimated income of NIS 2.3 million, and Ronen Isaac generated a total income of NIS 1.2 million. The two are accused of acting consciously and systematically to obscure, hide and conceal their income from the tax authorities in Israel.
The prosecution's cyber department stated that "the indictment illustrates the economic value of illegal databases. The database on which the software sold by the defendants was based was based on the 'Agron' software, which included the population registry that was leaked more than a decade ago and distributed online. "For the protection of privacy in the Ministry of Justice, those who took out the population register and distributed it on the Internet were exposed, and the prosecution prosecuted them. Some of the defendants were sentenced at the time to actual imprisonment.
The Privacy Protection Authority said that "the authority conducted a complex investigation to expose the defendants who created the software, programmed it and even marketed it illegally for years. The authority will continue to work to raise public awareness of the illegal use of illegal databases, including programming and marketing of software. Prohibitions based on such databases, in order to strengthen the protection of public privacy. "
