Microsoft has terminated a set of services for the Israeli military after an investigation recommended Israel was utilizing the corporate’s cloud computing expertise for mass surveillance of Palestinians.
In a press release posted the company’s blog, Microsoft President Brad Smith mentioned the corporate had “ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense.” The transfer comes after an investigation by The Guardian and Israel’s +972 Magazine in early-August reported that Israel’s military intelligence unit, often called 8200, relied on Microsoft Azure to retailer hundreds of thousands of cellphone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Microsoft introduced on August 15 that it had begun a assessment of the allegations. Smith mentioned Microsoft doesn’t present expertise “to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” a precept it has utilized “in every country around the world.” The assessment, Smith mentioned, targeted on enterprise data, monetary statements, inside paperwork and different data with out accessing the content material of the saved materials.
During the investigation, the corporate says it discovered proof that helps components of the investigation from the information shops, together with Israel’s “consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.” Microsoft knowledgeable Israel of the choice “to cease and disable specific [Israel Defense Ministry] subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies.”
An Israeli safety official mentioned, “There is no damage to the operational capabilities of the IDF.”
Microsoft mentioned the assessment was nonetheless ongoing.