Microsoft is creating a new internal mechanism for employees to report concerns about how its technology is developed and used — making the process similar to how workers already flag incidents of workplace misbehavior, security issues, or legal concerns.
In a message to employees Wednesday morning, company President Brad Smith said Microsoft was expanding its internal “Integrity Portal” to let workers raise issues related to the development and deployment of its technology. The new feature, called “Trusted Technology Review,” will allow employees to report information or concerns about potential policy violations.
Smith said the company is also changing its processes to “strengthen our existing pre-contract review process for evaluating engagements that require additional human-rights due diligence.”
The moves come after months of pressure inside and outside Microsoft over Israel’s use of the company’s technology in military and surveillance activities linked to the war in Gaza.
Microsoft has faced repeated protests from employees and activists, including a group called No Azure for Apartheid, which has accused Microsoft of enabling human-rights abuses through its cloud and artificial-intelligence services.
The company has said it is committed to upholding its human-rights principles and does not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians.
In September, the company confirmed it had found evidence supporting parts of a Guardian investigation that Israeli military intelligence used Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store and analyze large volumes of intercepted Palestinian phone calls. Microsoft said it had since cut off access to certain cloud and AI services used by Unit 8200, Israel’s military intelligence agency.
“We continue to consider lessons learned and apply them to how we run our business and advance our mission in an increasingly complex world,” Smith wrote in the new message. He noted that employees can submit information anonymously, and Microsoft’s non-retaliation policy will also apply.
Separately, the Guardian recently reported that Israel’s cloud deals with Amazon and Google include a secret mechanism allowing the government to be alerted if a foreign legal order seeks its data. The report said Microsoft’s unsuccessful bid for that contract, known as Project Nimbus, faltered because the company refused to accept all of Israel’s demands.
Amazon responded at the time: “We do not have any processes in place to circumvent our confidentiality obligations on lawfully binding orders.”
Here is the full text of Smith’s message, obtained by GeekWire.
Hello Everyone –
You’ll recall that on September 25, I shared with you actions we took after investigating a news story that reported that Azure was being used to store phone call data obtained through mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. In that message, I also said we’d continue to share lessons learned and how we will apply these going forward. Today I want to share additional steps we are taking to enhance our due diligence and governance processes. This is a part of an ongoing process and, as we continue to learn more, we’ll share further steps with you.
Today we are strengthening our diligence processes by expanding how employees can report information and concerns about how Microsoft technology is developed and deployed. These build on our long-established reporting and investigations processes on workplace behavior, legal and ethical concerns, and digital and physical security — all of which make it easy for employees to raise concerns through the Microsoft Integrity Portal.
We’re adding a new and easy way for employees to report information about practices that you believe may violate the company’s policies regarding the development and deployment of our technology. This is through a new section in the Microsoft Integrity Portal called “Trusted Technology Review.” Moving forward, if you have information on these topics, simply go to the portal and select the “Trusted Technology Review” when asked for type of report. We will then follow up to address this information. Our standard non-retaliation policy applies and you can raise concerns anonymously.
As part of our commitment to ongoing improvement, we are also taking new steps to enhance other aspects of our governance processes. As one step in that work, we are working to strengthen our existing pre-contract review process for evaluating engagements that require additional human rights due diligence.
As I’ve shared before, Microsoft is a company guided by principles and ethics. We continue to consider lessons learned and apply them to how we run our business and advance our mission in an increasingly complex world. We’ll continue to listen and learn and share new steps with you along the way.
Brad
