Israel has secretly arranged deals with Google and Amazon to prevent data from being passed on to foreign authorities

Global services like Google and Amazon are subject to requests for data transfer from various countries. However, Israel, which does not want to hand over data, has arranged with Google and Amazon to receive notifications of requests for data transfer using a secret code, according to a joint investigation by independent news site +972 Magazine, Hebrew news site Local Call, and British newspaper The Guardian.

Inside Israel's deal with Google and Amazon

ילי מגבלות ועם 'מנגנון קריצה': החוזה של ישראל עם גוגל ואמזון - שיחה מקומית

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret 'wink' to sidestep legal orders | US news | The Guardian

In 2021, Israel signed a $1.2 billion contract with Google and Amazon to provide advanced cloud computing and AI services. While details of the massive contract, known as 'Project Nimbus,' remain confidential, Google's in-house lawyers have expressed concern that it could lead to human rights violations.

by Ryan Quick

The Guardian has obtained documents from the Israeli Ministry of Finance, including the final version of the Nimbus contract, as well as testimony from people involved in the negotiations, which reveal Israel's stringent demands on Google and Amazon.

First, it cannot restrict how Israel uses Google and Amazon products, even if it violates their terms of service.

The other is to 'secretly notify Israel when a court outside of Israel demands that Google and Amazon hand over data related to Israel stored in their clouds,' which +972 Magazine says 'effectively allows them to avoid legal obligations.'

The deal, signed two years before Hamas launched any major attacks on Israel, likely anticipated that Google and Amazon could face future litigation over their use of technology. One feared scenario would be if Israeli use of its products were linked to human rights violations against Palestinians and courts in the countries where the companies operate demand that Israeli data be handed over to assist in an investigation.

The mechanism by which Google and Amazon secretly signaled Israel was described as the 'wink mechanism,' which worked by sending a four-digit remittance using the country code used for international calls. For example, if requested by US authorities, Google or Amazon would send 1,000 shekels (approximately 47,400 yen) to Israel using the US country code '1.' In Japan, the country code is 81, so it would be 8,100 shekels (approximately 384,000 yen), and in Ireland, the country code is 353, so it would be 3,530 shekels (approximately 167,000 yen). Since there are no overlapping numbers when using international country codes in this four-digit notation, this alone makes it possible to identify the 'origin.' If Google and Amazon were unable to communicate the extradition request, they would be obligated to pay 100,000 shekels (approximately 4.74 million yen) to Israel within 24 hours.

The Guardian points out that the 'wink mechanism' is illegal because US law prohibits passing on information to the parties when requested by authorities.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Finance said, 'There is no basis for the report that Israel is forcing companies to violate the law.' A Google spokesperson also denied the reports, saying, 'As an American company, it is wrong to think that we would shirk our legal obligations.' Similarly, an Amazon spokesperson said, 'We have a rigorous, legal, and binding global process for responding to requests for customer data, and we do not have a process in place to circumvent our confidentiality obligations.'