(Reuters) -Microsoft on Thursday said it disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports of a surveillance system in Gaza and West Bank. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said the company began the review after […]
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Microsoft disables services to Israel defense unit after review
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(Reuters) -Microsoft on Thursday said it disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports of a surveillance system in Gaza and West Bank.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said the company began the review after allegations published in an article by the Guardian in August about a unit of the Israel Defense Forces.
While the review is ongoing, Microsoft said it found evidence supporting elements of the Guardian’s reporting, including details on IMOD’s consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.
“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” Smith said in a Microsoft blog.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Tasim Zahid)