Rights groups EKO and the Irish Centre for Civil Liberties filed a legal complaint targeting Microsoft's Grange Castle data centre for powering the Israeli military's Almunasseq application via Azure cloud services. The application forces Palestinians to trade extensive device access—including cameras, files, and locations—for essential humanitarian, work, and medical travel permits. While lawmakers demand an inquiry into the Data Protection Commission's perceived inaction, both Microsoft and the regulator have refused to comment publicly. Irish lawmaker Sinead Gibney plans to push Ireland's Department of Enterprise to scrutinize the tech giant's direct involvement.
Key points
Irish legislators are demanding an investigation into the national data regulator for fai…: Irish legislators are demanding an investigation into the national data regulator for failing to progress the Microsoft complaint.
Rights groups maintain that hosting software components inside Ireland legally obligates…: Rights groups maintain that hosting software components inside Ireland legally obligates the service to comply with European Union privacy regulations.
The monitored application has been actively used to revoke thousands of Palestinian medic…: The monitored application has been actively used to revoke thousands of Palestinian medical and employment permits since October 2023.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Irish lawmakers are calling for an investigation into Ireland's data regulator over concerns that Microsoft's data centre campus outside Dublin hosts an app used by Israel to control the movements of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Last year, rights groups EKO and the Irish Centre for Civil Liberties (ICCL) filed a complaint with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), raising concerns that Microsoft’s Grange Castle data centre was hosting elements of the Almunasseq app, used by the Israeli army to monitor Palestinians.
The DPC has still not given a definitive response to the rights groups over the status of the complaint.
Sinead Gibney, who serves in the Dail Eireann, the Irish parliament's lower house, said Microsoft's Irish data centres are "fuelling the crime of apartheid against Palestinians" in the West Bank and Gaza.
“Microsoft must be held accountable and I’ll be pushing for the Department of Enterprise to fully investigate this matter in light of the wealth of UN reports detailing the apartheid system," she told Middle East Eye.
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