DayofPal—Microsoft has announced stronger human rights safeguards for its collaborations with national security agencies following an internal investigation into misuse of its Azure cloud platform by Israel.
The review examined accusations that Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200 used Azure to support a system for large-scale surveillance of Palestinians, including processing and analyzing millions of phone calls daily.
The investigation was prompted by reporting from The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, and led Microsoft to review compliance with its terms of service.
Following preliminary findings suggesting potential violations, the company reportedly restricted access by the Israeli military to certain cloud and AI tools linked to the program.
The inquiry also raised concerns about internal transparency within Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary in Tel Aviv, including whether information about military-related collaboration was fully disclosed to headquarters.
Some employees were also said to have had conflicting loyalties between corporate responsibilities and personal support for the Israeli military.
In response, Microsoft introduced new measures including regular audits of clients in war-affected regions and stricter human rights due diligence for national security contracts.
Despite the company describing the update as a “final” clarification of its policy, protests continue, including demonstrations by the “No Azure for Apartheid” campaign, which has called for a complete severance of Microsoft’s ties with Israel.
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