US EditionMicrosoft cuts off cloud services to Israeli military unit after report of storing Palestinians’ phone calls
Microsoft halted Azure and AI services for Israeli Unit 8200 after finding evidence of mass surveillance of Palestinians violating its terms, amid rising global concerns over tech ethics.
- On Thursday, Microsoft disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense after an internal review found supporting evidence.
- Media investigations alleging mass surveillance prompted Microsoft to commission outside counsel after the Guardian, +972 Magazine, Local Call, and AP reported Israel used Azure to store Palestinian calls recently.
- The Israeli military unit reportedly used Azure and AI to store and analyze as much as 8,000 terabytes of Palestinian call data in Microsoft datacenters in the Netherlands and Ireland, aiding military planning.
- Microsoft limited the action to a small subset of services for one unit, and an Israeli security official said the move produced 'no damage to the operational capabilities' of the IDF.
- International bodies and experts have issued findings and calls that frame the Microsoft decision within wider human-rights concerns, as reports said Unit 8200 planned to transfer data to Amazon Web Services and Amnesty International urged suspensions tied to Israel's military activities.
271 Articles
271 Articles
Hi-Tech Holocaust: How Microsoft aids the Gaza genocide
MintPress has detailed the deep collaboration between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Amazon, Google, TikTok, Apple, Palantir, and Oracle, but Microsoft’s relationship with the government and armed forces of Israel is potentially the closest, leading then-CEO Steve Ballmer to state that “Microsoft is as much an Israeli company as an American company.”
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Hi-Tech Holocaust: How Microsoft Aids The Gaza Genocide
Israel’s genocide is being powered by Microsoft. From creating a massive digital dragnet, aiding in the production of A.I.-generated kill lists, hiring hundreds of Israeli spies to run its internal affairs, and suppressing figures opposing the slaughter, the Seattle-based tech corporation has played a key role in the violence. MintPress has detailed the deep collaboration between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Amazon, Google, TikTok, Apple…
‘Mass surveillance of civilians’: Microsoft cuts off Israeli Defense Ministry after spying investigation
Microsoft has officially “ceased and disabled” certain services to a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found evidence supporting claims of mass surveillance of Palestinian civilians. This is a massive piece of news, especially since the company’s own Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith, shared a direct communication about the decision with employees. The initial allegations surfaced in an article by The …
Microsoft forced to block Israel’s use of its cloud, AI in mass spying of Palestinians
US tech giant Microsoft has been forced to terminate the Israeli military’s access to some of its services, which the illegal regime uses for espionage activities and data surveillance against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Microsoft cuts Israeli Military off from its Azure Cloud over Mass Surveillance of Civilians
By Binoy Kampmark ( Middle East Monitor) – On 6 August, The Guardian reported that “multiple individuals have asserted that the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] is using Azure for the storage of files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.” The tale began in 2021, when Microsoft, the company responsible for the Azure cloud platform that promises endless wells of data storage, endorsed a pl…
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