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Microsoft has stopped providing some services to the Israeli military, following an investigation into the company’s products being used to surveil Palestinian civilians.
The US software giant said on Thursday it had found evidence that “supported elements” of claims first reported by the Guardian that Israel’s defence ministry had stored mass surveillance data on its servers.
The reports claimed that Israel’s Unit 8200, which is responsible for signals intelligence, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to store data from phone calls obtained through “broad or mass surveillance” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, said in a statement that the company had informed Israel of its decision to “cease and disable” some subscriptions, including the use of “specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies”.
“We have reviewed this decision with [Israel’s ministry of defence] and the steps we are taking to ensure compliance with our terms of service,” Smith added.
The Redmond, Washington-based company’s decision to suspend some services comes as humanitarian conditions in Gaza have worsened under Israel’s assault. Microsoft has faced a wave of criticism from staff over its business dealings with Israel.
A group of current and former employees called No Azure for Apartheid have disrupted multiple company events in protest at Microsoft’s actions.
Microsoft in late August fired four employees involved in the movement who had set up encampments on the company’s premises. Two of the individuals fired were involved in a sit-in at Smith’s office.
Smith told employees in a recent town hall that the decision to suspend some services for the Israeli defence ministry “does not impact” the company’s work to “protect the cyber security of Israel and other countries in the Middle East”, according to his blog post.
Israel’s army radio has reported that Unit 8200 had backed up surveillance material in recent weeks, in an effort to keep its access to the data.
The Israeli defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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