Microsoft Faces Complaint Accusing It of Illegally Storing Israeli Military Surveillance Data on Palestinians

SadaNews - The American tech giant "Microsoft" is facing a complaint from the NGO "ECO", which accuses it of illegally storing Israeli military surveillance data on Palestinians within the European Union.

"ECO" filed the complaint with the Irish Data Protection Authority, responsible for enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation on companies based in Ireland, including "Microsoft".

The Irish authority confirmed to "Agence France-Presse" on Thursday that it has received the complaint, noting that it is "currently under assessment".

This complaint follows an investigative report by the British newspaper "The Guardian" published in early August, which stated that "Unit 8200" of the Israeli military intelligence used the "Microsoft Azure" platform "to store phone data intercepted through extensive surveillance... of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.".

The newspaper indicated that the data was stored on the company’s servers in Ireland and the Netherlands, which explains this complaint regarding the General Data Protection Regulation.

"ECO" clarified in a statement on Wednesday that "Microsoft" has unlawfully processed personal data of Palestinians and EU citizens, enabling the Israeli military to conduct surveillance, targeting, and occupation.

"Microsoft" announced that it will conduct its own internal investigation following the publication of this article, which in late September led to the suspension of this Israeli unit's access to "Azure".

Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, acknowledged in a message to employees published online that the company found "evidence supporting some aspects of The Guardian report".

However, "ECO" accused "Microsoft" based on testimonies from whistleblowers of "rapidly deleting massive amounts" of this data from its European servers after the publication of The Guardian's investigation.