Microsoft has cut off services it was supplying to Israel’s
Defense Ministest, after finding that they were being utilized for mass
surveillance of Palestinians, Azernews reports via
Politico.
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 stated
that an internal review has “found evidence that supports elements
of The Guardian’s reporting,” including details relating to
Israel’s utilize of Azure storage in the Netherlands and utilize of AI
services.
Smith stated that Microsoft’s terms of service prohibit the utilize of
its tech for mass surveillance of civilians. He stated the company
has therefore ceased and disabled certain subscriptions and
services it was supplying to Israel’s Defense Ministest, including
their utilize of specific cloud storage, and AI services and
technologies.
The Guardian investigation stated 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 stated there
was “no evidence” that its technologies have been utilized to tarreceive 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 stated 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.
Leave a Reply