Google calls allegations of ‘secret code’ in international cloud services d

[phillynews215]

TL;DR

• Google and Amazon reportedly agreed to unusual terms to secure a $1.2 billion cloud services deal with the Israeli government.
• These terms allegedly include the use of “secret code” to send Israel covert messages.
• In statements provided to Android Authority, Google and Amazon both deny legal wrongdoing.

In 2021, Google and Amazon entered into a $1.2 billion agreement with Israel to provide the country’s government agencies and military with cloud computing services. New reporting released today asserts that the deal, known as Project Nimbus, came with some eyebrow-raising stipulations, including the companies’ agreement to send coded messages and language that circumvents Google’s and Amazon’s normal terms of service.

Cloud storage providers sometimes hand over customer data to investigating bodies, but are often restricted from letting those customers know as much. The Guardian reports that in order to secure the 10-figure deal with Israel, Amazon and Google both had to agree to what the publication calls a winking mechanism, a roundabout way of communicating that kind of information without actually saying anything, thereby potentially sidestepping restrictions.




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