Microsoft Blocks Israel’s Use of Its Tech in Mass Surveillance of Palestinians

I suspect that really depends on the content. What does Microsoft do when it's CSAM? They can't legally posses it but can't legally delete it because that would be destroying evidence. I'm sure there's a process.

What makes you think Netherlands government knows what data resides within its borders?

But why do you think the Netherlands govt was in anyway involved in this? I host some bsremetal in the Netherlands but I don't need to report to the government what I store..

Why build something near or semi near conflict?

Safer from ballistics

The Israel Azure region wasn't launched until 2023, and AFAIK has substantially less services available than the others. I know Google's Israel region doesn't have as many GPU options, for example.

might have something to do with the Netherlands being a large investor in Israel. the largest in the EU. It's responsible for two-thirds of EU investment in Israel. https://www.somo.nl/economic-sanctions-eu-is-israel-largest-...

Such a Monday quarterback's perspective. There is always plenty of intelligence to suggest there will be an attack

More likely MS was well aware of what was going on and didn't care until the Guardian forced their hand.

Privacy ayatollah? Is that like an infosec shah?

Well, the average org isn't out there literally committing genocide

I've personally never seen anything requiring confidential computing in anything. Is this required in the USA? I find that hard to believe, because the technology on a cloud level is still very beta-feeling. I think that Microsoft just never looked because they did not want to know.

What country does this "confidential computing" exist in, and how can I get there?

The reality is that no one can tell whose ass it is safe to kiss now a days, so it’s all scandal driven actions. Unless someone can create a big enough scandal, no one is going to do squat.

If they act on information their employees report, they are violating their commitments.

Can anyone help clean up these sources/verify?

The first one seems to be after Microsoft's claim "and Microsoft has said it is reviewing a report in a British newspaper this month that Israel has used it to facilitate attacks on Palestinian targets".

The second one looks similar "Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian".

The 3rd one seems to be a genuine example that Microsoft employees were reporting this specific contract violation concern - but I feel like there are more genuine examples I've heard of than just this one report.

The 4th one is a bit unclear, it seems to be a general complaint about the contract - not about specific violations of it.

Perhaps the more confounding question remaining is "what was so different about the report from The Guardian". It's not like these kinds of claims are new, or in small papers only, but maybe The Guardian was able to put together hard evidence from outside that allowed Microsoft to determine things without themselves going in breach of contract details?

I actually think understanding exactly how your customers do a thing is not an easy thing to be 100% sure of.

I've had sales, customer reps, even engineers and customers describe how a customer / they work ... and then I go and look and ... it's not how anyone said they work IRL.

That’s the best part, they cannot. Well, they technically can, but the answer from the company that runs chinese azure servers is gonna be “none of your business.”

Azure’s web app for managing servers is a nightmare

Uses the same awful UI/plaform as their Xbox account settings

Microsoft always somehow succeeds in spite of the quality of everything they build.

Bullish, as in, not bearish.

It has changed quite a bit here in the US too, even among the Jewish population. Our synagogue is very divided on this, mainly between the young and the old.

Politics is weird. With the Biden administration there was lots of lip service given in opposition to the slaughter in Gaza while at the same time they were shipping unprecedented amounts of weapons to the IDF.

Now with Trump they state that they have max support for Israel while it seems like all of Europe is turning away from unconditional support for Israel and a massive change in the typical rhetoric around media in the US. That’s odd.

That's about the latest number from Gaza health ministry that stopped counting well over a year ago as Israel had destroyed all but one hospital. It doesn't even count the people left in rubble from destroying 80% of all buildings.

So... 1/10th of the civilian deaths in the Iraq war?

If you think that figure is remotely accurate despite the fact Israel has decimated all hospitals, leveled entire areas, wiped out entire families and is starving those that are still alive to do the counting, you're being naive, and that's a generous interpretation. Once Israel finally allow the UN in, that figure is going up by a factor of at least 2 or 3. The true cost of most genocides are only counted years after it's over, when it's too late.

Confirmed deaths are in the 60,000's.

Estimated deaths are in the 300,000's.

The international community must be allowed into Gaza to start counting skeletons.

I could write things here about those officially reported deaths (not estimates, which are much higher, but no one really knows and very likely never will), or the internal diaplacement, but since there might be at least 1 Palestinian still alive digging in the rubble somewhere, literalists like you would still feel the need to overcorrect.

I thought the defeated tone of my post made it clear that it was not meant to be taken that literally. I guess not.

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, here, that would have the stench of colonialism about it.

It's not their land to 'return to' - after all, people already live there and they have no moral right to displace them.