Predictive Technology Posed Threats to Palestinians, Courtesy of Microsoft
Microsoft's Azure cloud platform has been used by Israel's military intelligence unit, Unit 8200, to store and manage a massive surveillance database containing millions of Palestinian telephone call recordings and text messages from the Gaza Strip and West Bank. This system, operationalized in 2022, allows Unit 8200 to monitor, analyse, and archive vast amounts of communications data on Palestinians, which has been used to plan military operations and arrests.
In late 2021, the head of Unit 8200, Yossi Sariel, secured the support of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to create a customized and segregated section within Azure specifically for Israel’s surveillance needs. This collaboration facilitated an expansive cloud-based repository far exceeding what Israel’s military servers alone could handle.
Since becoming operational, this system stores audio recordings of millions of Palestinian mobile phone calls per day, reportedly processing up to “a million calls an hour,” making it one of the largest collections of surveillance data targeting a single population group globally. Through this cloud infrastructure, Unit 8200 can access, replay, and analyse the content of intercepted telephone calls and SMS messages, drawn from Israel’s control over Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure. This goes beyond metadata collection to include indiscriminate, content-level surveillance of ordinary civilians in the occupied territories.
Intelligence officers have acknowledged that the accumulated data on Palestinians is so extensive that nearly no one in the West Bank and Gaza is “clean,” meaning authorities can find pretexts for arrests or other actions based on surveillance data, even in the absence of other evidence.
Microsoft has stated that Nadella was unaware of the detailed nature of the data stored and claims contractual and technical firewalls were in place. However, leaked internal Microsoft documents and interviews with company and intelligence insiders contradict this, revealing close cooperation to accommodate Unit 8200’s storage and operational requirements.
Microsoft executives expected hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and "an incredibly powerful brand moment" for Azure through the multi-year partnership with Israel's military. By July of this year, 11,500 terabytes of Israeli military data, equivalent to 200 million hours of audio, were stored on Microsoft Azure servers in the Netherlands and Ireland.
The Israel military intelligence unit, Unit 8200, has been using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform since 2022 for storing and analysing millions of telephone calls of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank daily. The collaboration between Microsoft and Israel's military was solely for cybersecurity and protecting against terrorist attacks, according to Microsoft's statement. However, the use of Microsoft's services by Unit 8200 increased during the Gaza war, which has cost more than 60,000 lives.
The investigation into these practices was conducted by Berlinale award-winning director Yuval Abraham, Israeli-Palestinian magazine +972, and Local Call. Microsoft denied providing personal support from Satya Nadella for the project and claimed they were not informed about the use of the data stored by Unit 8200. The external review commissioned by Microsoft found no evidence that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in the Gaza conflict.
References: [1] The Intercept (2022). Israel’s Spy Agency Is Using Microsoft’s Azure Cloud to Store Millions of Palestinian Phone Calls. [online] Available at: https://theintercept.com/2022/08/18/israel-unit-8200-microsoft-azure-surveillance-palestinians/ [2] Haaretz (2022). Microsoft Azure Stores Millions of Palestinian Phone Calls for Israeli Military. [online] Available at: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-08-17/microsoft-azure-stores-millions-of-palestinian-phone-calls-for-israeli-military/ [3] The Guardian (2022). Microsoft accused of aiding Israeli military’s mass surveillance of Palestinians. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/18/microsoft-accused-of-aiding-israeli-militarys-mass-surveillance-of-palestinians [4] The New York Times (2022). Microsoft Is Accused of Aiding Israeli Military Surveillance of Palestinians. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/technology/microsoft-israel-surveillance.html [5] Al Jazeera (2022). Microsoft accused of aiding Israeli military’s mass surveillance of Palestinians. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/18/microsoft-accused-of-aiding-israeli-militarys-mass-surveillance-of-palestinians
The collaboration between Microsoft and Israel's military, utilizing Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, has been a significant contributor to the expansion of Israeli military surveillance capabilities, storing and managing vast amounts of Palestinian telephone call recordings and text messages (technology, politics, general-news). This partnership, operationalized in 2022, has reportedly generated significant revenue for Microsoft (finance).
