This is part two of an ongoing series. Part one on unfair content moderation can be found here.

Since the beginning of the Israeli military response to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, US companies such as Google and Amazon under pressure to reveal more about the services they provide and the nature of their relationships with the Israeli forces involved in the military response.

We agree. Without more transparency, the public will not be able to see whether these companies comply with human rights standards – both those of the United Nations and those who publicly set for himselfWe know that this conflict has allegedly resulted in war crimes and massive, ongoing Monitoring of civilians and refugees under International law recognizes as illegal occupationThis type of monitoring requires significant technical effort and it seems unlikely that it could be carried out without the ongoing involvement of the companies providing the platforms.

Human Rights at Google opinion claims: “In everything we do, including launching new products and expanding our business around the globe, we are guided by internationally recognized human rights standards. We are committed to respecting the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its implementing treaties, and to upholding the standards set out in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the Global Network Initiative Principles (GNI Principles). Google goes even further in the case of AI technologiesand promises not to develop or use AI in technologies that are likely to cause harm to humans, collect or use information for surveillance purposes, are used in violation of human rights, or whose use is likely to cause overall harm.”

Amazon States that it is “guided by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” and that its “approach to human rights is based on international standards; we respect and support the core conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

It is time for Google and Amazon to tell the truth about the use of their technologies in Gaza so that everyone can see whether their human rights commitments were serious or just empty promises.

Concerns that Google and Amazon facilitate human rights violations

The Israeli government has long procured surveillance technology from US-based companies. Most recently Investigation in August by +972 and local call revealed that the Israeli military has been storing intelligence information in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud after the volume of data collected through mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza became too large for military servers alone. The same article reported that the commander of the unit of the Israeli Center for Computer and Information Systems – responsible for data processing for the military – in a address Military and industry officials were told that the Israeli army uses cloud storage and AI services from civilian technology companies. The logos of AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure appeared in the presentation.

This is not the first time that Google and Amazon have been involved in providing civilian technical services to the Israeli military, nor is it the first time that questions have been raised about whether this technology is being used to facilitate human rights abuses. In 2021, Google and Amazon Web Services signed a Joint contract worth $1.2 billion with the Israeli military, which Project Nimbus to provide cloud services and machine learning tools based in Israel. official announcement of the partnershipThe Israeli Finance Ministry said the project aims to “provide the government, defense and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution.” Under the contract, Google and Amazon will According to reports cannot prevent certain agencies of the Israeli government, including the military, from using its services.

Not much is known about the details of Nimbus. Google has publicly stated that the project is not intended for military use; the Israeli military has publicly acknowledged that Nimbus has assisted it in warfare. Notes on reports that the project involves Google setting up a secure instance of Google Cloud in Israel. According to Google Docs Starting in 2022, Google’s cloud services will include object tracking, AI-powered facial recognition and detection, and automated image categorization. Google signed a new consulting contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense based on the Nimbus platform in March 2024. So Google cannot claim that it has simply adapted to the changed circumstances since 2021.

In addition to Project Nimbus, an anonymous Israeli official reported that the Israeli military is deploying facial recognition networks throughout the Gaza Strip, using two tools that Face recognition/clustering Features: one from Corsight, a “facial intelligence company,” and the other is integrated into the platform offered through Google Photos.

Clarity needed

Given the gaps in information available, there is clearly cause for concern and a need for companies to clarify their roles.

For example, Google Photos is a general service and some of the parts of Project Nimbus are non-specific cloud computing platforms. EFF has long maintained that the misuse of general-purpose technologies alone should not be a basis for liability. But as with Cisco’s Development of a special module of China’s Golden Shield to identify Falun Gong (currently pending litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) Companies should not intentionally offer certain services that facilitate human rights abuses, nor should they intentionally override how their technologies are used.

In short, if their technologies are used to facilitate human rights violations – whether in Gaza or elsewhere – these technology companies must publicly demonstrate that they adhere to their own human rights and AI principles, which are based on international standards.

We (and the whole world) are waiting, Google and Amazon.