(Bloomberg)โค —
Microsoft Corp.โ hasโข taken action to limit the Israeli military’s access to certain software functionalitiesโค following an โinternal inquiry into reports that its technology was used in the surveillance โขof โคcivilians. The move comes after scrutiny and protests from employees and activists concerned about the company’s relationship wiht Israel‘s militaryโ amidโฃ the conflictโฃ in Gaza.
The investigation wasโค promptedโค byโฃ reporting from The Guardian newspaper, which โalleged that data related to mass โขsurveillance was being stored on Microsoft โcloud servers. These reports detailed โclaims that Israel’s โmilitary intercepted millions of Palestinian mobile phone calls, stored them on โคMicrosoftโ servers, and utilized the data in identifying bombing targets โฃin Gaza.
“The Israel Ministry of Defense has been โคinformed of Microsoft’s decision to cease and disable specifiedโ IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services โand technologies,” Microsoft President Brad Smith saidโ Thursday in โa blog post. Smith โขreiterated that the company’s policies prohibit customersโ from โฃemploying itsโค products forโ massโ surveillance โof civilians.
Microsoft employees โand external activists have demonstrated against the company’sโฃ workโ with the โIsraeli military for nearly a year, โฃincluding aโข protestโค in August that resulted in several arrests after demonstrators occupied Smith’s office.
A complete reviewโ ofโ Microsoft’s collaboration with โisrael remains underway,โค according to Smith. He clarified, however,โค that this action “does not โฃimpact the important work that Microsoftโ continues to do toโ protect the cybersecurity ofโ Israel and other countries in theโข Middle East.”
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