Microsoft Orders External Review Over Azure Use by Israeli Military

A formal external inquiry has been opened by Microsoft into allegations that its Azure cloud platform has been used by Israel’s military to store and potentially exploit recordings of Palestinian civilians’ phone calls. The investigation, overseen by Covington Burling, follows a joint investigative report detailing how Unit 8200, Israel’s intelligence unit, allegedly operated a segregated area within Azure to hold vast volumes of daily call data from Gaza and the West Bank. Microsoft has emphasized that storing data obtained through broad surveillance of civilians would violate its terms of service and has pledged a comprehensive review of the matter.

The inquiry is the second time Microsoft has ordered an outside review into its dealings with the Israeli government in recent years. The latest probe expands on findings that a cloud-based system, developed with the involvement of Israeli staff and engineers, may have been used to access raw intelligence, including audio files. The company has stated that if the data were indeed stored for purposes of mass civilian surveillance, such use would breach its policies. Microsoft says it found no evidence to date that its Azure or AI...