Microsoft faces an EU complaint alleging it illegally stored Palestinian data used for Israeli military surveillance, with Ireland’s data watchdog now assessing the case.
LONDON: Microsoft is facing a complaint in the European Union alleging it illegally stored data on Palestinians used for Israeli military surveillance.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) confirmed it had received the complaint against the US tech giant and said it was currently under assessment.
As Microsoft’s European headquarters are in Ireland, the DPC is the EU’s lead data regulator for the company.
The complaint was filed by non-profit organisation Eko, which fights for “people and planet over profits”.
Eko accused Microsoft of violating Europe’s data protection law by unlawfully processing personal data belonging to Palestinians and EU citizens.
It stated this data enabled “surveillance, targeting, and occupation by the Israeli military”.
The complaint follows a report in The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to store data files from broad surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Microsoft cut the Israeli army’s access to certain cloud services in September after investigating the report.
Eko claims new evidence from Microsoft whistleblowers indicates the company rapidly offloaded vast quantities of illegally captured surveillance data after The Guardian’s investigation.
A Microsoft spokesperson said customers own their data and the actions taken to transfer it in August were the customer’s choice.
The spokesperson added these actions in no way impeded Microsoft’s own investigation.
According to The Guardian, the data was stored on Microsoft’s servers in Ireland and the Netherlands.
This placement brings it under the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to protect consumers from personal data misuse.
