Microsoft has blocked the Israeli military's elite cyber unit, Unit 8200, from accessing its cloud and artificial intelligence services due to alleged misuse tied to the surveillance of Palestinians. The decision comes after an internal investigation found evidence supporting claims that Unit 8200 had breached Microsoft's terms of service by storing vast amounts of surveillance data within its Azure cloud platform.
The investigation, prompted by a Guardian report, revealed that Unit 8200 had been using Microsoft's Azure platform to store and process millions of intercepted phone calls from Palestinian civilians. This surveillance effort was part of a broader mass surveillance program, capturing an astonishing volume of daily communications. Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith, stated that the company had "ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel Security Ministry," emphasizing that Microsoft "does not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians".
The move has been hailed as a significant win by employee activists, but criticized for not going far enough, as the vast majority of Microsoft's contract with the Israeli military remains intact. Israeli security officials have downplayed the impact, stating it won't affect the IDF's operational capabilities. Unit 8200 reportedly plans to transfer its surveillance data to Amazon Web Services, raising questions about the ethics of storing sensitive military intelligence on foreign-owned cloud platforms.
