SAEDNEWS: Microsoft Corp. is facing a complaint in Ireland for helping the Israeli regime conceal evidence of unlawful surveillance of Palestinians by removing data from European servers.
An activist group filed a complaint Wednesday with the Irish Data Protection Commission, requesting an investigation into Microsoft’s handling of Israeli military and government data, and seeking a suspension of any processing deemed unlawful.
The complaint, reviewed by Bloomberg, targets Microsoft’s operations in Ireland, where the company’s European headquarters are located and where regulators enforce the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Microsoft’s ties to the Israeli war ministry have drawn growing criticism from employees and human rights advocates since Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“Our customers own their data, and the actions taken by this customer to transfer their data in August were their choice,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”
Microsoft said its internal probe relied on business records and staff who worked with Israeli authorities.
The Irish Data Protection Commission confirmed it had received the complaint and is currently assessing it.
Separately, Israel’s actions in the Gaza war have faced sharp criticism from several United Nations inquiries and major human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes, including starvation of civilians and intentional attacks on civilian populations—accusations the Israeli government denies.
In early August, the Guardian and partner outlets in Israel reported that Microsoft servers stored millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls used to support target selection for airstrikes in Gaza. Leaked documents indicated most of this data was held in the Netherlands, with a smaller portion in Ireland.
The day after those reports were published, owners of an account linked to the Israeli military asked Microsoft to raise data transfer limits for three Azure cloud accounts, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. Microsoft staff approved the requests, after which the stored data in those accounts declined sharply.
The complaint, supported by whistleblower information, was submitted by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties with backing from Ekō, an advocacy group focused on technology and social issues. It argues that the rapid data transfers undermined Ireland’s ability to supervise material classified as sensitive under the GDPR, one of the world’s strictest privacy laws.
Meanwhile, Microsoft announced in August that it had launched an investigation based on the Guardian’s reporting and said it disabled some military uses of its software in September.
The complaint contends that Microsoft’s EU data centers continue to host applications used by the Israeli regime to monitor Palestinians. It specifically cites the Almunasseq app—developed during the pandemic for Palestinian work and travel permits—which partly relies on Microsoft’s Irish infrastructure and has been criticized for phone tracking and broader surveillance.
“Microsoft’s servers form part of a chain contributing to ongoing violations of international criminal, humanitarian, and human rights law against millions of Palestinians,” the complaint stated.
Shareholders at Microsoft’s annual meeting on Friday will vote on a resolution urging the board to review the company’s human-rights due diligence. Ekō, which backed the GDPR complaint, also helped sponsor the resolution.
