Microsoft has blocked an Israeli military unit from accessing some services after preliminary evidence supported a media investigation that the software was used for surveillance of Palestinian civilian phone calls.
The unit used Microsoft’s Azure software to store “millions” of recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a joint investigation by The Guardian and other outlets published in August.
The investigation prompted an internal review by Microsoft, which found details of the Israel Ministry of Defence’s (IMOD) consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services supported the reporting.
“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a company blog.
He said the decision to “cease and disable” certain IMOD subscriptions, including the use of specific cloud storage and AI services, would not impact Microsoft’s cyber security services to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.
A spokesperson for the IMOD told Sky News’ US partner network NBC that it had no comment following Microsoft’s announcement.
In August, the military told The Guardian that Microsoft “is not and has not been working with the (Israeli military) on the storage or processing of data”.
Protesters marched near the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle, Washington, last year. File pic: Reuters
Microsoft has been the target of protests over its ties to Israel, including by a tech industry worker-led campaign group called No Azure for Apartheid.
It is among pro-Palestinian groups that welcomed Microsoft’s decision to block the Israeli military from certain services.
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It is a “point of vindication for those brave tech workers who stood up and protested”, said Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
The Guardian’s investigation was conducted with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
