The Israel Security Agency was established soon after the founding of the state; however its functions, structure and powers were not comprehensively legislated until 2002. Until this time, they were decided by governmental decisions alone. Over the years, various powers granted to the ISA had been anchored in law, such as the 1979 Wiretapping Law, the 1981 Protection of Privacy Law, and others. Nonetheless, these laws were specific and limited in scope, while the overall status, structure, functions and powers of the ISA, as well as the method of supervising its activity, were defined only with the passage of the ISA Statute.