Joe O'Brien

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has lodged a formal complaint, alleging that data processing by Microsoft Ireland has facilitated war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza.

ICCL said its complaint relies in part on material provided from within Microsoft by whistleblowers and was formulated with pro bono assistance from Éamonn Conlon SC.

The NGO is representing a group of data subjects in the complaint, including Palestinian residents of Gaza and the West Bank, and EU citizens/residents who have frequent communications with individuals in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Joe O’Brien, executive director of ICCL, said: “Microsoft’s technology has put millions of Palestinians in danger.

“These are not abstract data-protection failures — they are violations that have enabled real-world violence.

“When EU infrastructure is used to enable surveillance and targeting, the Irish Data Protection Commission must step in — and it must use its full powers to hold Microsoft to account.

“This is an urgent matter upon which hangs the welfare and survival of the Palestinian people and the privacy of people outside the occupied territories who communicate with them.

“It is essential that the DPC move quickly and decisively, particularly in view of the threat to life posed by the issues at the heart of this complaint.”