❗️Microsoft investigates claims that Israel used Azure for mass surveillance of Palestinians

The Guardian reports that Microsoft has launched an “urgent” external inquiry after revelations that Israel’s Unit 8200 used its Azure cloud platform to store recordings of millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The joint investigation with +972 Magazine and Local Call found that Unit 8200 relied on a customized Azure system to hold vast troves of data. Microsoft said such use — “the storage of data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians” — would breach its terms of service.

The inquiry, to be overseen by Covington & Burling, follows an earlier review this year that found “no evidence to date” that Azure was used to “target or harm people” in Gaza.

According to The Guardian, concerns have since grown inside Microsoft that some Israel-based employees may have concealed details about how Unit 8200 operated when questioned during the earlier review.

Leaked files show the company knew as early as 2021 that Unit 8200 planned to migrate large volumes of classified data into Azure, and senior executives, including CEO Satya Nadella, met with the unit’s commander to discuss the move.

Microsoft now faces internal pressure from the worker-led group No Azure for Apartheid, which accuses it of complicity in genocide and apartheid.

The new inquiry will also examine Microsoft’s commercial agreements with the Israeli military, with the company pledging to share its findings publicly once complete.