Ireland: Watchdog accused of stalling probe into Microsoft hosting Israeli military app

Ireland: Watchdog accused of stalling probe into Microsoft hosting Israeli military app

Submitted by Areeb Ullah on Thu, 11/12/2026 - 11:10 Data monitor criticised over complaints that Ireland's Microsoft data centres host a tool to track Palestinians A protest at a Microsoft data centre campus in West Dublin in November (EKO/Bryan Meade) Off

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.

"I'm calling on Microsoft to explain why it’s providing the Israeli government with the tools and technologies to sustain its system of apartheid – a system under which millions of Palestinians are being denied basic human rights."

The complaint was submitted on behalf of a Palestinian resident of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as a European Union citizen, based on evidence provided by a whistleblower.

Evidence seen by MEE and gathered by EKO and the ICCL showed that Israel used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to host elements of the Almunasseq app.

According to the complaint, Microsoft provides the “underlying” and “essential computer infrastructure” needed for the app to function, including cloud storage, database services and computing power. This means information collected from Palestinians using the app could be processed and stored on Microsoft’s infrastructure.

Whistleblower evidence submitted with the complaint also showed that parts of the app are hosted in Microsoft’s data centres in Ireland, potentially bringing them within the scope of EU data protection laws.

The evidence was submitted to the DPC, which did not respond to MEE’s request for comment. Microsoft also declined to comment.

Surveillance and control

Launched in 2020 by Cogat, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, Almunasseq, which means “the coordinator” in Arabic, allows the Israeli army to track users’ phone locations and access their notifications, downloaded or saved files, and their device’s camera.

Previously, Palestinians seeking permits to enter Israel, generally for humanitarian reasons or family reunification, had to visit Cogat offices in person to have their status checked. Since the introduction of Almunasseq, however, they have been required to download the app to access permit-related services, including for work, education and healthcare, or to visit sick relatives in hospital.

'The Coordinator': Israel instructs Palestinians to download app that tracks their phones Read More »

Testimony collected by EKO for a new report, titled “Apartheid in Your Pocket”, documents how the app has become a source of surveillance and fear for Palestinians who had used it to navigate restrictions on their movement.

One respondent told EKO they stopped using the app after 2023, as movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank became increasingly severe.

“The restrictions had become stricter, including requirements to confirm return through photographs and location sharing, among other measures,” the Palestinian said.

“As a result, I deleted the application and disposed of the phone on which it had been installed, fearing that the occupation authorities might use it to monitor me and my private life. I subsequently purchased a new phone.”

Beyond concerns over surveillance, multiple Palestinians told EKO that the app had been used to cancel thousands of permits issued to Palestinians in Gaza for medical treatment and work after October 2023. Children and elderly people were among those affected.

According to EKO’s report, the app’s terms of use allow the Israeli military administration to block access or alter content at any time for “security or policy considerations”.

The report says the revoking of permits and their subsequent removal from the application can leave affected Palestinians without digital proof of their legal status.

The app has been downloaded more than one million times from the Google Play Store. Palestinians interviewed for the report said they had no alternative to using it.

Microsoft’s ties to Israeli military

The allegations over Almunasseq come amid wider scrutiny of Microsoft’s relationship with the Israeli military.

The Guardian and +972 Magazine previously reported that Israel’s intelligence Unit 8200 used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to store thousands of hours of intercepted audio.

'For Palestinians, this is apartheid in their pocket'

– Rewan al-Addad, senior campaign director at EKO

Earlier this year, MEE also revealed that the Israeli Defense Ministry had renewed a three-year deal with Microsoft worth $125m during the first year of the Gaza war in 2024.

Rewan al-Addad, EKO’s senior campaign director, told MEE that Microsoft continued to provide “key infrastructure” for the Almunasseq app to operate, while “millions of Palestinians bear the consequences of Israel’s illegal occupation”.

“For Palestinians, this is apartheid in their pocket, deciding whether they can see their family, reach a hospital or get through a checkpoint, and Microsoft helps keep it online,” Addad said.

“Microsoft pulled the plug on Unit 8200 when the world found out. It’s time it did the same for Almunasseq.”

Rasha Abdul Rahim of the Tech Justice for Palestine campaign echoed Addad’s concerns, calling on governments and regulators to ensure that technology companies do not provide support that sustains violations of international law, including apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation.

“Complicity is not inevitable. It is a choice, and choices must have consequences. Microsoft and other Big Tech companies must be put on notice: their responsibilities do not end at the data centre door,” Rahim told MEE.

“No company should be beyond accountability, and no digital infrastructure should become a shield for human rights abuses. The era of impunity for Big Tech must end, starting in Ireland.”

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