Ireland called to investigate Microsoft over Israeli military data
by Chris Benson · UPIDec. 4 (UPI) -- Authorities in Ireland have officially been asked to investigate Microsoft over allegations the software giant unlawfully processed data for the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a human rights group, formally made its bid to the European Union's Data Protection Commission.
"Microsoft's technology has put millions of Palestinians in danger," according to ICCL Executive Director Joe O'Brien.
It followed revelations by The Guardian and two other outlets in August which uncovered a plethora of phone calls from Palestinians that were stored on Microsoft's Azure cloud service, allegedly part of the Israeli military's mass surveillance operation of the population in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
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Microsoft's European headquarters is stationed in Ireland.
In September, Microsoft ended a portion of the IDF's access to technology used to spy on Palestinian civilian phone calls in Gaza and West Bank, calling it a violation of Microsoft's terms by storing surveillance data in the Azure cloud service.
The ICCL argued that data processing "facilitated war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by Israeli military."
"These are not abstract data-protection failures -- they are violations that have enabled real-world violence," added O'Brien in a statement.
"When EU infrastructure is used to enable surveillance and targeting, the Irish Data Protection Commission must step in -- and it must use its full powers to hold Microsoft to account," he continued.
The Bill Gates-founded Microsoft arrived on Irish shores forty years ago, Ireland's leader noted Wednesday in remarks to parliament.
"Microsoft came to Ireland in 1985 when there was 17% unemployment," Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin posted on X. "That's why this government focuses on enterprise and economy a lot. I've never forgotten those days."