6 ms·

Azure Government and ICE

32 points by mdlincoln 8y ago

malvosenior 8y ago
> The new FedRAMP High ATO validates that Azure Government meets all security and compliance standards necessary to handle ICE’s most sensitive unclassified data, including data that supports the core Agency functions and protects against loss of life. I think most people would see this as a good thing. A far-left political outlook is over represented in tech, but Microsoft's customer base is much broader than that. It's actually kind of refreshing to see a company act in a non-overtly left-leaning manner. It makes Microsoft look more professional and politically neutral than say Google.
- joering2 8y ago
  The was a good book the title I forgot about, how IBM almost went bankrupt before thriving because of political contracts with Nazi party to design and deliver system to clasify prisoners in concentration camps during Hitler’s era. Seriously this is not a poor-taste joke!!
  - malvosenior 8y ago
    That book is called IBM and The Holocaust and it is indeed very good. IBM wasn't going bankrupt before working with the Nazi's though. It talks about how IBM rolled out punch-card technology originally developed for the census to the Nazi's via its German subsidiaries. I don't see the parallels here though. Nazi's were detaining and murdering their own citizens. ICE is enforcing existing laws against illegal immigration and it's doing so with transparency. The laws it is enforcing may be controversial to some, but it's not the executive branch's place to write new laws.
    - s73v3r_ 8y ago
      ICE is ripping children away from their parents, and locking them in camps. No matter your political affiliation, you should find that abhorrent. And there is exactly no law which requires this. It is entirely a Trump administration directive.
      - malvosenior 8y ago
        As I mentioned to you in my other comment... People are breaking the law and their families are suffering because of it. It has nothing to do with Trump, it's a conscious risk these people are taking as they attempt to bring their families into the country illegally.
        s73v3r_ 8y ago
        No, this is entirely about Trump. It is Trump's administration that is enacting this. There is absolutely no reason for it to happen other than their own cruelty.
    - joering2 8y ago
      > The laws it is enforcing may be controversial to some, but it's not the executive branch's place to write new laws. I just showed this to my grandfather (he is German) and he told me to tell you that it was exactly the same reasoning when Nazis started War War 2 in September of 1939. Many of his friends and family members were saying back then that if you have something against executive branch murdering Polish people, then you should vote Chancellor Hitler out in the next election, because German soldiers are only executing given orders.
      - malvosenior 8y ago
        We're talking about enforcing an existing law against illegal immigration (which every company has a concept of) and not murdering our own citizens so the two are in no way comparable.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
s73v3r_ 8y ago
This seems like the absolute worst time for anyone to be touting the amount of help they're giving to a federal agency, especially one that is ripping children away from their parents.
- garettmd 8y ago
  Well, to be fair, the linked post was published in January, well before any of the kid-snatching articles were in the news.
  - smcl 8y ago
    I only just saw the date too, though to be fair ICE have been nasty for quite a while now
  - code_duck 8y ago
    So this technology is probably currently in use to help massive human rights violations go better for the people perpetrating them.
    - malvosenior 8y ago
      It's not a "human right" to illegally enter a country. I happen to be pro-open borders, but understand the opposing side's view.
      - s73v3r_ 8y ago
        It is, however, a massive human rights violation to separate children and parents like that. Regardless of what the opposing side believes regarding entering the country, that action is simply barbaric.
        malvosenior 8y ago
        Incorrect. If a parent commits murder, do we imprision the child with them? No. People are breaking the law and their families are being separated because of it. This is squarely on the people breaking the law, not the people enforcing it.
smcl 8y ago
Oh boy, why on earth would you boast about your collaboration with one of the most controversial US government agencies at a time when they’re on the news for operating what is essentially concentration camps.
- jaxbot 8y ago
  To be fair, this article is from January. Still a controversial/dumb time to brag about working with ICE, but it wasn't published during this press cycle.
  - smcl 8y ago
    Yep just noticed. Eh, still not cool to work with ICE I reckon. They’ve been pretty nasty for a while
- philip1209 8y ago
  "Losing kids while separating families? Azure's high-uptime databases can help!"
- joering2 8y ago
  This article is from January. Perhaps he assumed that Trump is going to, you know, keep his promise to “end Obamas eras policies”. Now hes learning hard lesson this Chief-in-Snakesoil-Pitch was actually lying (im not using this word loosely - he is on a week long tour claiming its Democrats fault and he cannot do nothing anout it [altho senators from the same party say it woudl he a matter of “one phonecall”])
CurtHagenlocher 8y ago
Dated January 24th, for what it's worth.
- code_duck 8y ago
  Oh, so they've had time to get it in place and start trying it out. Maybe they can let us know how it's working. I wonder if that facial recognition has helped them catch any dangerous toddlers who tried to escape?
revx 8y ago
Looking at you, the 53 Microsoft employees who signed https://neveragain.tech/ https://neveragain.tech/
thom_nic 8y ago
I hate to say it, but demonizing ICE seems like the wrong thing. It's the executive administration that direct ICE and Congress that tells ICE the laws to enforce. That's not to say they are blameless but we could point fingers at pretty much every federal agency. ICE is just in the crosshairs at the moment.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  No, ICE and those who choose to work for them and carry out those orders are just as much to blame. "Following orders" is not an excuse.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
drewbug01 8y ago
It's unfortunate how quickly this got flagged.
onyva 8y ago
What about Microsoft doing the right thing for once by not providing services to USA agencies performing crimes agaist humanity? Don’t know what are the implications of canceling their contract with ICE or Homeland Security, but they should know they can not become enablers of this criminal policy.

32 points by mdlincoln 8y ago

> The new FedRAMP High ATO validates that Azure Government meets all security and compliance standards necessary to handle ICE’s most sensitive unclassified data, including data that supports the core Agency functions and protects against loss of life. I think most people would see this as a good thing. A far-left political outlook is over represented in tech, but Microsoft's customer base is much broader than that. It's actually kind of refreshing to see a company act in a non-overtly left-leaning manner. It makes Microsoft look more professional and politically neutral than say Google.

joering2 8y ago
The was a good book the title I forgot about, how IBM almost went bankrupt before thriving because of political contracts with Nazi party to design and deliver system to clasify prisoners in concentration camps during Hitler’s era. Seriously this is not a poor-taste joke!!
- malvosenior 8y ago
  That book is called IBM and The Holocaust and it is indeed very good. IBM wasn't going bankrupt before working with the Nazi's though. It talks about how IBM rolled out punch-card technology originally developed for the census to the Nazi's via its German subsidiaries. I don't see the parallels here though. Nazi's were detaining and murdering their own citizens. ICE is enforcing existing laws against illegal immigration and it's doing so with transparency. The laws it is enforcing may be controversial to some, but it's not the executive branch's place to write new laws.
  - s73v3r_ 8y ago
    ICE is ripping children away from their parents, and locking them in camps. No matter your political affiliation, you should find that abhorrent. And there is exactly no law which requires this. It is entirely a Trump administration directive.
    - malvosenior 8y ago
      As I mentioned to you in my other comment... People are breaking the law and their families are suffering because of it. It has nothing to do with Trump, it's a conscious risk these people are taking as they attempt to bring their families into the country illegally.
      - s73v3r_ 8y ago
        No, this is entirely about Trump. It is Trump's administration that is enacting this. There is absolutely no reason for it to happen other than their own cruelty.
  - joering2 8y ago
    > The laws it is enforcing may be controversial to some, but it's not the executive branch's place to write new laws. I just showed this to my grandfather (he is German) and he told me to tell you that it was exactly the same reasoning when Nazis started War War 2 in September of 1939. Many of his friends and family members were saying back then that if you have something against executive branch murdering Polish people, then you should vote Chancellor Hitler out in the next election, because German soldiers are only executing given orders.
    - malvosenior 8y ago
      We're talking about enforcing an existing law against illegal immigration (which every company has a concept of) and not murdering our own citizens so the two are in no way comparable.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

s73v3r_ 8y ago

This seems like the absolute worst time for anyone to be touting the amount of help they're giving to a federal agency, especially one that is ripping children away from their parents.

garettmd 8y ago
Well, to be fair, the linked post was published in January, well before any of the kid-snatching articles were in the news.
- smcl 8y ago
  I only just saw the date too, though to be fair ICE have been nasty for quite a while now
- code_duck 8y ago
  So this technology is probably currently in use to help massive human rights violations go better for the people perpetrating them.
  - malvosenior 8y ago
    It's not a "human right" to illegally enter a country. I happen to be pro-open borders, but understand the opposing side's view.
    - s73v3r_ 8y ago
      It is, however, a massive human rights violation to separate children and parents like that. Regardless of what the opposing side believes regarding entering the country, that action is simply barbaric.
      - malvosenior 8y ago
        Incorrect. If a parent commits murder, do we imprision the child with them? No. People are breaking the law and their families are being separated because of it. This is squarely on the people breaking the law, not the people enforcing it.

smcl 8y ago

Oh boy, why on earth would you boast about your collaboration with one of the most controversial US government agencies at a time when they’re on the news for operating what is essentially concentration camps.

jaxbot 8y ago
To be fair, this article is from January. Still a controversial/dumb time to brag about working with ICE, but it wasn't published during this press cycle.
- smcl 8y ago
  Yep just noticed. Eh, still not cool to work with ICE I reckon. They’ve been pretty nasty for a while
philip1209 8y ago
"Losing kids while separating families? Azure's high-uptime databases can help!"
joering2 8y ago
This article is from January. Perhaps he assumed that Trump is going to, you know, keep his promise to “end Obamas eras policies”. Now hes learning hard lesson this Chief-in-Snakesoil-Pitch was actually lying (im not using this word loosely - he is on a week long tour claiming its Democrats fault and he cannot do nothing anout it [altho senators from the same party say it woudl he a matter of “one phonecall”])

CurtHagenlocher 8y ago

Dated January 24th, for what it's worth.

code_duck 8y ago
Oh, so they've had time to get it in place and start trying it out. Maybe they can let us know how it's working. I wonder if that facial recognition has helped them catch any dangerous toddlers who tried to escape?

revx 8y ago

Looking at you, the 53 Microsoft employees who signed https://neveragain.tech/ https://neveragain.tech/

thom_nic 8y ago

I hate to say it, but demonizing ICE seems like the wrong thing. It's the executive administration that direct ICE and Congress that tells ICE the laws to enforce. That's not to say they are blameless but we could point fingers at pretty much every federal agency. ICE is just in the crosshairs at the moment.

s73v3r_ 8y ago
No, ICE and those who choose to work for them and carry out those orders are just as much to blame. "Following orders" is not an excuse.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

drewbug01 8y ago

It's unfortunate how quickly this got flagged.

onyva 8y ago

What about Microsoft doing the right thing for once by not providing services to USA agencies performing crimes agaist humanity? Don’t know what are the implications of canceling their contract with ICE or Homeland Security, but they should know they can not become enablers of this criminal policy.