Irish Authorities Asked to Investigate Microsoft Over Alleged Unlawful Data Processing by IDF
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has filed a formal complaint with Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC), alleging unlawful processing of Palestinians' personal data by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) through Microsoft services.
This complaint follows reports from August revealing that Palestinians' phone calls were stored on Microsoft Azure as part of a mass surveillance operation conducted by the IDF.
ICCL claims that this data processing facilitated war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the Israeli military, and criticizes the use of EU infrastructure to enable such surveillance and targeting.
Leaked documents indicated that as early as 2021, Unit 8200, an Israeli intelligence unit, discussed moving large volumes of top-secret material to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft storage facilities reportedly housed an archive of Palestinian communications.
In response, Microsoft ordered an urgent external inquiry into its ties with Unit 8200. The inquiry's findings led to the cancellation of some of Unit 8200's access to cloud storage and AI services.
Further allegations by ICCL state that Microsoft enabled components of Israel's 'Al Minasseq' surveillance system and that records of intercepted calls were subsequently removed from EU servers, which could potentially obscure evidence and breach GDPR regulations.
The DPC has confirmed receipt of the complaint and is currently assessing the case. Microsoft has also been contacted for comment.
