The Role of Cloud Computing in Mass Surveillance
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Science and Technology (Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence - AI); International Relations (Israel-Palestine conflict, Oslo Accords); Current events.
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (International Relations): Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
General Studies Paper 3 (S&T and Security): Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers, AI; Basics of cyber security; Role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges; Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
General Studies Paper 4 (Ethics): Corporate Governance; Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions (the ethics of tech companies participating in conflict).
Key Highlights from the News
Unit 8200, Israel's military intelligence unit, used Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service to monitor and analyze millions of Palestinians' phone calls, an investigation revealed.
Following this revelation, Microsoft discontinued some services it provided to the Israeli defense unit.
Israel's complete control over Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure enabled such large-scale surveillance, which is a violation of the 1995 Oslo Accords.
Azure's systems were used to categorize, analyze, and search the collected phone calls using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Microsoft is not the only culprit in this matter. Other prominent tech companies like Amazon and Google also provide cloud and AI services to the Israeli military through "Project Nimbus".
This incident raises serious ethical and legal questions about the role Big Tech plays in modern wars and conflicts.
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