Jerusalem (CNN) -- If you're a tourist arriving in Israel, you might be asked to give authorities a look at your personal e-mail, in addition to your travel documents. Israel's attorney general said Wednesday that Shin Bet, the country's internal security force, can search a foreign traveler's e-mail, but only in exceptional cases in which "relevant suspicious signs" are observed. Israel says the practice is another way to fight terrorism. The threat of using foreign citizens for terrorist purposes is a growing trend, the Israeli Attorney General's Office said in a written response to an inquiry filed by an Israeli human rights group.
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Israeli attorney general says travelers' e-mail can be searched in exceptional cases
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"No one is forced to open their accounts to anyone they don't want to," official says
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Israeli Attorney General's Office says it's fighting threat of using foreign citizens for terrorism
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The practice violates privacy rights, attorney for civil rights group says
"A tourist who has just spent thousands of dollars to travel to Israel, only to be interrogated at the airport by @placeholder agents and told to grant access to their e-mail account, is in no position to give free and informed consent," she said Wednesday.