Microsoft blocks Israeli use of its technology for Palestinian surveillance operations
Unit 8200’s system collected millions of Palestinian civilian phone calls made each day in Gaza and the West Bank
Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Thursday it has disabled some services used by an Israeli military unit after preliminary evidence supported a media investigation that reported mass surveillance of Palestinian phone calls.
Microsoft told Israeli officials late last week that Unit 8200, the military's elite spy agency, had violated the company's terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data in its Azure cloud platform, sources familiar with the situation said.
The decision to cut off Unit 8200's ability to use some of its technology results directly from an investigation published by the Guardian last month. It revealed how Azure was being used to store and process the trove of Palestinian communications in a mass surveillance programme.
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A joint investigation, published in August by the Guardian and other media outlets found that an Israeli military agency was making use of Microsoft's Azure software to store countless recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
That prompted an internal review by Microsoft.
"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a company blog.
The review is ongoing, but details of the Israel Ministry of Defense's (IMOD) consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services supported the Guardian's reporting, he said.
The decision to "cease and disable" specific IMOD subscriptions, including the use of specific cloud storage and AI services, would not impact Microsoft's cybersecurity services to Israel and other countries in the Middle East, he added.
A spokesperson for the Israeli ministry told NBC News it had no comment on Thursday's announcement.
At the time the media investigation was published, Israel's military told the Guardian its work with firms like Microsoft was based on "legally supervised agreements." The military later added that Microsoft "is not and has not been working with the (Israeli military) on the storage or processing of data."
Pro-Palestinian groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a tech industry worker-led campaign group named No Azure for Apartheid welcomed the decision.
"This is a welcome step and a point of vindication for those brave tech workers who stood up and protested," Imraan Siddiqi, the executive director of CAIR's Washington state chapter, said. The groups have demanded that Microsoft cut all ties with the Israeli government.
A spokesperson for the Israeli ministry told NBC News it had no comment on Thursday's announcement.
At the time the media investigation was published, Israel's military told the Guardian its work with firms like Microsoft was based on "legally supervised agreements." The military later added that Microsoft "is not and has not been working with the (Israeli military) on the storage or processing of data."
Pro-Palestinian groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a tech industry worker-led campaign group named No Azure for Apartheid welcomed the decision.
"This is a welcome step and a point of vindication for those brave tech workers who stood up and protested," Imraan Siddiqi, the executive director of CAIR's Washington state chapter, said. The groups have demanded that Microsoft cut all ties with the Israeli government.
Microsoft has been among the most prominent of companies that have faced protests over ties to Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel's military assault has mounted and images of starving Palestinians, including children, have sparked global outrage.
Some recent protests on company premises have led to firings of some employees who took part, including two who joined a sit-in at Smith's office. Microsoft says the terminations followed breaches of company policies and the on-site demonstrations had created what it called significant safety concerns.
The Guardian's investigation was conducted with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
Israel's two-year long assault on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people and internally displaced Gaza's entire population. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say it amounts to genocide.
Israel calls its actions self-defense after the October 2023 attack led by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and in which more than 250 were taken hostage.
