Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians

"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."

"In a joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, the Guardian revealed how Microsoft and Unit 8200 had worked together on a plan to move large volumes of sensitive intelligence material into Azure. The project began after a meeting in 2021 between Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, and the unit's then commander, Yossi Sariel. In response to the investigation, Microsoft ordered an urgent external inquiry to review its relationship with Unit 8200."

"Equipped with Azure's near-limitless storage capacity and computing power, Unit 8200 had built an indiscriminate new system allowing its intelligence officers to collect, play back and analyse the content of cellular calls of an entire population. The project was so expansive that, according to sources from Unit 8200 which is equivalent in its remit to the US National Security Agency a mantra emerged internally that captured its scale and ambition: A million calls an hour."

Microsoft informed Israeli officials that Unit 8200 violated its terms by storing a vast repository of surveillance data on Azure, prompting an urgent external inquiry. The company cancelled the unit's access to some cloud storage and AI services following the inquiry's initial findings. Unit 8200 used Azure's storage and computing power to create a system that collected, played back and analysed cellular call content across Gaza and the West Bank. The program amassed an enormous archive of intercepted calls and produced an internal mantra reflecting its scale: "A million calls an hour."

Read at www.theguardian.com