Microsoft has cut off services it was supplying to Israel’s Defense Ministry, after finding that they were being used for mass surveillance of Palestinians.
In August, The Guardian reported that the Israeli military is conducting mass surveillance of Palestinians, by gathering troves of phone call data from civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and storing it on Microsoft servers in Europe.
In a blog post Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said that an internal review has “found evidence that supports elements of The Guardian’s reporting,” including details relating to Israel’s use of Azure storage in the Netherlands and use of AI services.
Smith said that Microsoft’s terms of service prohibit the use of its tech for mass surveillance of civilians. He said the company has therefore ceased and disabled certain subscriptions and services it was supplying to Israel’s Defense Ministry, including their use of specific cloud storage, and AI services and technologies.
The Guardian investigation said the storage of Palestinians’ phone records on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform had facilitated deadly airstrikes and shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
After a previous internal review in May, Microsoft said there was “no evidence” that its technologies have been used to target or harm people during the conflict in Gaza.
On Thursday, Smith noted that Microsoft has a policy of respecting customer privacy, and that the company does “not access our customers’ content in this type of investigation.”
He expressed “appreciation” for The Guardian report which revealed information that couldn’t be accessed in light of those “customer privacy commitments.”
Microsoft said the decision will not impact its work protecting the cybersecurity of Israel and other countries in the Middle East, including under the Abraham Accords.
Privacy advocates have been ratcheting up pressure on the EU in recent months to reconsider its data-sharing relationship with Israel, partially over concerns about its surveillance activities.
The European Commission renewed an adequacy decision for Israel last year, meaning that the EU executive deems Israel’s privacy safeguards to be on par with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
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