Irish legislators are urging a formal investigation into the country's Data Protection Commission following concerns that Microsoft's data centre campus near Dublin supports a digital application used by the Israeli military. The app, known as Almunasseq, is utilized to monitor and control the movements of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Lawmakers argue that the regulator has delayed its response to a complaint filed by rights groups regarding this infrastructure.
The complaint was originally submitted last year by the European Centre for Civil Liberties and the EKO. They raised alarms that Microsoft's Grange Castle facility was hosting key elements of the Almunasseq platform. Despite the filing, the Data Protection Commission has yet to provide a definitive update on the status of the case to the organizations involved.
Sinead Gibney, a member of the Dail Eireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament, stated that Microsoft's Irish data centres are actively supporting what she described as the crime of apartheid against Palestinians. She has pushed for the Department of Enterprise to lead a full investigation, citing numerous United Nations reports that detail the regional system of control.
Gibney called on Microsoft to clarify why it is supplying the technological tools necessary to sustain this system. She emphasized that millions of Palestinians are being denied basic human rights under this framework. The initial complaint was filed on behalf of a Palestinian resident and a European Union citizen, based on evidence provided by a whistleblower.
Evidence reviewed by Middle East Eye indicates that Israel utilized Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to host parts of the Almunasseq app. The complaint asserts that Microsoft supplies the essential computer infrastructure required for the application to function, including cloud storage, database services, and computing power. This arrangement means that data collected from Palestinian users could be processed and stored within Microsoft's systems.
Whistleblower documents suggest that segments of the app are hosted in Irish data centres, which could bring the data under the scope of European Union data protection laws. Both the Data Protection Commission and Microsoft declined to comment on the matter when requested by Middle East Eye.
The Almunasseq app, which translates to "the coordinator" in Arabic, was launched in 2020 by Cogat, the Israeli military body responsible for civilian affairs in the occupied territories. It allows the military to track user locations, access notifications, view saved files, and utilize device cameras. Previously, Palestinians had to visit Cogat offices in person for permit status checks, but the app has become the primary method for accessing work, education, and healthcare permits.
A new report titled "Apartheid in Your Pocket" documents how the app has become a source of surveillance and fear for many users. One Palestinian respondent noted that they eventually deleted the app and discarded their phone in 2023 due to increasingly strict movement restrictions. They feared that occupation authorities might use the data to monitor their private lives.
The report also highlights that the app was used to cancel thousands of permits for medical treatment and work for Palestinians in Gaza after October 2023. The terms of use allow the military administration to block access or alter content for security reasons, often leaving users without digital proof of their legal status. The app has been downloaded more than one million times from the Google Play Store, with many users stating they had no alternative.
These allegations arrive amidst broader scrutiny of Microsoft's ties to the Israeli military. Previous reports indicated that Israel's intelligence Unit 8200 used Azure to store intercepted audio, and a $125 million contract was renewed during the first year of the Gaza war. Advocates argue that Microsoft must be held accountable for the digital infrastructure that sustains these operations, with calls for regulators to ensure that technology companies do not shield human rights abuses.
