tech
Head of Microsoft's Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military
The inquiry came after the Guardian revealed Israel used company technology to support mass surveillance of Palestinian phone calls
TL;DR
- Microsoft's Israel General Manager, Alon Haimovich, is stepping down after an internal inquiry.
- The inquiry was prompted by a report detailing the Israeli military's use of Microsoft's Azure cloud platform for mass surveillance of Palestinian phone calls.
- Microsoft previously terminated the Israeli military's access to cloud services and AI products used for surveillance after determining it violated their terms of service.
- Concerns were raised among Microsoft executives about the transparency of Israel-based employees regarding Unit 8200's use of the company's technology.
- Haimovich reportedly played a role in developing the relationship between Microsoft Israel and the military's spy agency, Unit 8200.