Microsoft announced on Thursday that it has terminated certain services for the Israeli military following an investigation that was launched after The Guardian reported that Israel was using Microsoft’s cloud storage technology to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
In a statement released Thursday on Microsoft’s blog, Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith confirmed that the technology company “ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense.”
Smith explained that the company’s decision to terminate services used by the Israel Ministry of Defense came after The Guardian reported in August that Unit 8200, an Israeli military intelligence unit, was using Microsoft Azure to conduct mass surveillance and store roughly 200 million hours of audio, including phone calls made by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians. We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades,” Smith said. “This is why we explained publicly on August 15 that Microsoft’s standard terms of service prohibit the use of our technology for mass surveillance of civilians.”
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As part of the company’s review, which was announced on August 15, Smith confirmed that Microsoft “found evidence that supports elements of The Guardian’s reporting,” including “information relating to IMOD consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.”
As a result of the investigation, Smith said Microsoft has informed the Israel Ministry of Defense regarding the company’s decision to “cease and disable specified IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies.”
“We have reviewed this decision with IMOD and the steps we are taking to ensure compliance with our terms of service, focused on ensuring our services are not used for mass surveillance of civilians,” Smith added.
In a statement obtained by CNN following Microsoft’s announcement, an Israeli security official confirmed that there has been “no damage to the operational capabilities” of the Israel Defense Forces.
