Complaint Against "Microsoft" for Aiding the Occupation by Concealing Evidence of Tracking Operations Against Palestinians

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, an activist group, has filed a complaint accusing Microsoft of violating the European Union's data protection law.

Bloomberg News reported that the group based its complaint on assertions from company employees that Microsoft helped remove evidence of the extensive surveillance practiced by the occupation against Palestinians from data centers located within the continent.

The complaint, submitted by the group according to Bloomberg, also called on the Data Protection Commission in Ireland to investigate Microsoft's handling of Israeli military and government data and to stop these practices if they are illegal.

The group filed the complaint in Ireland, where Microsoft's European headquarters are located.

Local regulators are responsible for enforcing the EU's data protection law.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties filed the complaint, which cites information obtained from whistleblowers within Microsoft, with the support of the "Eko" organization, a lobbying group that works to hold major technology companies accountable on social issues.

The complaint stated that the transfer of data weakened Ireland's ability to oversee data classified as sensitive under the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe, one of the most stringent privacy laws in the world.

In August, Microsoft announced an urgent external investigation after reports revealed that the Israeli army was using its technologies to mass monitor Palestinians.

The company clarified that the use of the Azure platform to store the daily calls of millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is a violation of its terms of service.

The new investigation comes after a report published by The Guardian in cooperation with +972 Magazine and Local Call, which revealed that the Israeli intelligence unit 8200 relied on a dedicated and separate area within Azure to store recordings of telephone calls of Palestinian citizens.

Microsoft confirmed, according to a report by The Guardian, that any use of Azure to store call data obtained through "mass or large-scale surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank" is prohibited under its terms.

The investigation will be conducted by a team of lawyers at the American Covington & Burling office.

The technology giant is facing increasing pressure from employee groups, such as the "No Azure for Apartheid" campaign, which accuses the company of "complicity in genocide and apartheid," and demands that it cut all ties with the Israeli army and disclose this publicly.

The recent report raised concerns among Microsoft's executive management that some of its employees in Israel may have concealed information about how Unit 8200 used Azure during the initial investigation, the results of which were announced in May and confirmed at the time that there was no evidence that the army violated the terms of service or targeted Palestinians via Azure.