Violating the terms of service: Microsoft, Azure and the IDF

On 6 August, The Guardian reported that “multiple individuals have asserted that the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] is using Azure for the storage of files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.”  The tale began in 2021, when Microsoft, the company responsible for the Azure cloud platform that promises endless wells of data storage, endorsed a plan that would enable Unit 8200, Israel’s famed cyberwarfare agency, customised access. The agreement, reached between the unit’s commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, was a boon for mass surveillance enthusiasts.  The Guardian report, a co-investigative effort with Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, drew from leaked documents […]