Microsoft said it disabled some services to Israel’s Defense Ministry after a company review. The review found Israel violated terms of service for certain Microsoft products.
Company review and cloud use
The company said Israel used Microsoft’s cloud storage to hold surveillance data on Palestinians. A company blog post described records of millions of phone calls made daily between Palestinians.
Those findings confirmed reporting this year from The Guardian and the Israeli news site +972. Microsoft’s post said it does „not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians.“
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, wrote that the company has „a shared interest in privacy protection.“ He said trust in Microsoft’s services has business value when customers rely on „rock solid“ protections.
Terms of service and action
Microsoft said the Defense Ministry’s use broke product terms. The company then limited some services linked to that activity.
It did not list every affected service in the blog post. The focus was on cloud storage that held surveillance data, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft framed the move as part of its policies on privacy. It said its products should not enable mass tracking of civilians.
Context and attribution
The review followed public reports on surveillance practices. Microsoft said its findings supported those accounts.
According to The New York Times, the company confirmed evidence tied to call records and storage. The Times reported that Microsoft disabled some services after the internal review.
The Microsoft blog post linked to the review update and cited privacy as a key principle. It focused on how product terms guide customer use, including government clients.
Microsoft also said trust depends on clear rules and enforcement. The company pointed to privacy protection as central to that trust.
The action applied to Israel’s Defense Ministry. The Times said Microsoft’s decision followed its investigation into how cloud tools were used.
