Microsoft terminates Israel’s access to technology it used for mass surveillance of Palestinians
DUBAI: Microsoft has terminated the Israeli military’s access to technology it used for the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The tech firm informed Israeli authorities it would “cease and disable specified IMOD (Israel Ministry of Defense) subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies,” Brad Smith, the vice-chair and president of Microsoft said in a company memo and blog post on Thursday.
Cybersecurity services provided by the company to Israel and other countries in the Middle East are not affected, he added.
The decision follows the preliminary findings of a formal review launched by Microsoft last month in response to a report by The Guardian newspaper on an investigation it carried out in partnership with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language news site Local Call.
