Microsoft denies its technology is used by ICE for mass civilian surveillance, despite reports of the agency increasing its reliance on Azure cloud services. The tech giant stated its policies prohibit such use and urged clear legal guidelines for emerging tech in law enforcement. This comes amid scrutiny over government use of Microsoft’s tools.

Microsoft doesn’t believe that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency uses any tools for “mass surveillance of civilians”. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the software giant has claimed that it also does not believe that ICE is using its technology for mass surveillance of civilians. The company’s statement came in response to a report that raised concerns about potential misuse. The company said its policies prohibit such activity and that it provides cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE through partners.“As we’ve previously said, Microsoft provides cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools to DHS (Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part) and ICE, delivered through our key partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.“Microsoft policies and terms of service do not allow our technology to be used for the mass surveillance of civilians, and we do not believe ICE is engaged in such activity,” the company spokesperson added.The company added that the US Congress, the executive branch and the courts should draw “clear legal lines” regarding the permissible use of emerging technologies by law enforcement.

What made Microsoft make this statement related to ICE

The statement from Microsoft followed a report by The Guardian, which said ICE increased its use of Microsoft’s cloud technology last year as the agency expanded arrest and deportation operations. The publication cited leaked documents in its report.According to The Guardian’s report, ICE more than tripled the volume of data stored on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform in the six months leading up to January 2026, a period during which the agency’s budget grew, and its workforce expanded. The report added that ICE appeared to be using several Microsoft productivity tools, along with AI-based products, to search and analyse data stored on Azure.This is not the first time Microsoft has been under the scanner for the US government’s use of its technology. In September 2025, Microsoft stated that it had disabled some services being used by an Israeli military unit after there was some preliminary evidence that supported a media investigation about mass surveillance of Palestinian phone calls. Microsoft’s ties with the Israeli military had also led to some protests within the company, and some employees who took part in the protests were fired.ICE told Reuters that it will not comment on specifics of investigative techniques, tools, or technologies used in ongoing criminal probes but said it uses various technologies to aid in the arrests of criminals.Some of the tech companies with the largest ICE contracts include Dell, AT&T, and Palantir. According to Forbes, Dell’s government contracting arm was awarded $18.8 million in April 2025 to support the office of ICE’s chief information officer “through the purchase of the Microsoft Enterprise software licenses.”AT&T received $90.7 million in 2021 to supply ICE with IT and network solutions, along with associated support services, with the contract set to expire in September. The contract also has a potential extension until 2032, which would raise the total contract value to $165.2 million.Meanwhile, Palantir, a technology and analytics software provider, received a $139.3 million contract in 2022 to assist with “investigative case management operations,” maintenance support and “custom enhancements.”