News - Middle East: Information security and social media expert Jamal Shu’ayb has warned that the Zionist surveillance apparatus has expanded to an unprecedented scale, relying on global technologies and major platforms to collect data and monitor Palestinians across vast networks. He stressed that the continuous flow of data from Arab countries is being placed in “untrusted hands that are unsafe and vulnerable to intrusion.”

During Shu'ayb's appearance on Almasirah TV’s “Nawafidh” program on Saturday morning, the program presented a cybersecurity report highlighting new evidence about evolving Zionist espionage tactics, noting that these methods increasingly rely on international technology infrastructure. The surveillance network now extends far beyond the occupied territories, creating a complex and multilayered intelligence landscape.

Amid this unfolding picture, a new crisis has emerged in Europe, placing Microsoft at the center of serious questions about the role of its platforms in Zionist intelligence activities.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission filed a formal complaint with the digital rights group NOYB, accusing Microsoft of hosting Israeli enemy surveillance data—intercepted from Palestinians—on its cloud servers across Europe.

The case intersects with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, where penalties can reach up to 4 percent of global revenues. The Irish authority confirmed it had received the complaint and that the matter is under evaluation.

According to NOYB, Microsoft processed personal data belonging to Palestinians and European citizens without legal basis or consent, enabling the Israeli enemy’s military to enhance its surveillance and targeting capabilities inside Gaza and the West Bank—constituting a flagrant breach of EU laws governing sensitive data.

The complaint follows an investigative report in The Guardian, which revealed that the Zionist Unit 8200 used Microsoft’s Azure platform to store intercepted civilian Palestinian communications, including phone metadata. These datasets were kept on Microsoft servers in Ireland and the Netherlands—regions that serve more than 60 percent of European institutions.

The program referenced an earlier statement by Microsoft President Brad Smith, who acknowledged: “We found evidence that the Israeli military used our services to store phone-call data files as part of broad surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Legal experts warn that this admission could expose Microsoft to one of the most serious data-protection cases in the EU, potentially triggering a sweeping European investigation, substantial fines, and new regulatory restrictions.

Arab Data at Risk in Cloud Infrastructure

On the broader risks of modern cloud services,
 Shu’ayb presented an in-depth analysis of centralized cloud storage, explaining how its technical architecture inherently facilitates surveillance and data exploitation.

He stressed that storing information in a single centralized point effectively turns data into a “hostage”—controlled first by the cloud provider and second by the country in which that provider operates.

Shu’ayb compared the situation to Western banking systems, where financial assets are consolidated in institutions controlled by central governments and powerful financial lobbies. He explained that cloud platforms operate on a similar principle: data must undergo a “golden moment” of decryption for processing and analysis, creating a window in which anyone with access can read the data in plain form.

He added that metadata alone grants service providers near-total visibility into the content of stored data. Platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS are not mere storage centers; they are ultra-fast data hubs using artificial intelligence and advanced algorithms to inspect, categorize, and analyze information within seconds.

Hidden Backdoor Access and Legal Mandates

Shu’ayb emphasized that the greatest risk lies in backdoor access, reinforced by laws such as the US CLOUD Act, which obligates American companies to surrender data—even if stored outside the US.

He explained that cloud companies intervene when unusual patterns suggest espionage or breaches, but during routine data transfers, these companies rarely scrutinize who is pulling the data so long as the user has valid credentials.

Arab Data as a Geopolitical Vulnerability

The expert concluded with a stark warning:
Arab data has effectively become “a hostage” and cross-border cloud storage is now “part of modern espionage architecture.”

He stressed that Arab nations lack the legal or logistical authority to access or control their data stored abroad, while foreign governments—protected by laws like the CLOUD Act and European regulations—retain the power to retrieve this information at will.

“We are effectively handing our information on a silver platter to those who wish to spy on us,” Shu’ayb said.