Microsoft Launches Investigation Following Israeli Mass Surveillance Allegations
Microsoft has initiated an external investigation following allegations that a top Israeli military intelligence unit used its cloud technology to conduct mass surveillance on Palestinians.
The probe comes in response to a joint report by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, which alleges that Israel’s Unit 8200, often compared to the U.S. National Security Agency, employed Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to store a vast archive of intercepted and recorded phone calls from Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
The report also highlighted extensive ties between Microsoft’s Israel office and Unit 8200, raising concerns among Microsoft’s U.S. executives that employees based in Israel may have concealed details about their collaboration with the spy agency.
As part of this collaboration, Microsoft’s Israel office reportedly created a custom, segregated suite within the Azure platform to house the archive of intercepted communications. Unit 8200 leadership aimed to record “millions of calls per hour” across Palestinian territories through this surveillance project.
In a statement, Microsoft emphasized that “using Azure for the storage of data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank” would violate its terms of service.
To oversee the investigation, Microsoft has appointed lawyers from the U.S. firm Covington & Burling.
This is the second external inquiry Microsoft has launched concerning its relationship with the Israeli military. An earlier probe conducted earlier this year found “no evidence to date” that the Israel Defense Forces violated Microsoft’s terms of service or used Azure to “target or harm people” in Gaza.
However, the current investigation will build on the previous one, with Microsoft acknowledging that “The Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review”.
