Bloomberg: Microsoft hit with complaint over Israeli surveillance links

An activist group has filed a complaint alleging that Microsoft Corp. violated the European Union’s data protection laws by assisting in the removal of evidence related to Israel’s surveillance of Palestinians from European data centres.

Submitted on December 3 to the Irish Data Protection Commission and reviewed by Bloomberg, the complaint requests an investigation into Microsoft’s handling of Israeli military and government data and calls for the practice to be halted where it is unlawful.

Microsoft’s European headquarters are in Ireland, where local regulators enforce EU data protection law.

The company’s ties with the Israeli Ministry of Defence have faced criticism from some employees and outside activists since Israel launched military operations in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks.

“Our customers own their data, and the actions taken by this customer to transfer their data in August was their choice. These actions in no way impeded our investigation. That investigation led to a decision to cease some services in September, and ultimately to the customer storing their data with another provider,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated.

The investigation, which relied on business records and employees who had worked with Israeli authorities, drew no comment from the Irish regulator.

Israel’s actions in the war have drawn criticism from multiple United Nations inquiries and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza, including using starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally targeting civilians, which Israel denies.

Earlier reports in August by the Guardian and partner outlets in Israel indicated that Microsoft servers contained millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls, used to select bombing targets in Gaza.

Documents reviewed by Bloomberg show that the day after these reports, an account linked to the Israeli military requested increased data transfer limits on three Microsoft Azure accounts.

Following The Guardian report, Microsoft launched an investigation and pledged in September to restrict some uses of its software by the Israeli military.

By Jeyhun Aghazada