Complaint filed against Microsoft for aiding Israel in concealing evidence of tracking Palestinians

DUBLIN, Dec. 04 (YPA) – The Irish Civil Liberties Council (ICLC) has filed a complaint accusing Microsoft of violating EU data protection law.

 

Bloomberg News reported that the group based its complaint on assertions from company employees that Microsoft helped remove evidence of widespread Israeli surveillance of Palestinians from data centers located in Europe.

 

The complaint, according to Bloomberg, also called on Ireland’s Data Protection Commission to investigate how Microsoft handled Israeli military and government data and to stop these practices if they were found to be illegal.

 

The group filed the complaint in Ireland, where Microsoft’s European headquarters are located, while local regulators are responsible for enforcing EU data protection law.

 

The ICC filed the complaint, which cites information obtained from whistleblowers within Microsoft, with support from ECO, a lobbying group that holds big technology companies accountable on social issues.

 

The complaint stated that the data transfer weakened Ireland’s ability to oversee data classified as sensitive under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), one of the world’s strictest privacy laws.