Microsoft Removes Mention of ICE Cloud Work After Protests
- Technology executives criticize separation of families
- Description of ICE business goes back online after questions
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Microsoft Corp. scrubbed an online reference to its work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the agency faces criticism for its role in separating families at the U.S.-Mexican border.
On Jan. 24, Tom Keane, a Microsoft executive, wrote a blog post about new contracts with the U.S. Air Force and ICE for the company’s Azure cloud-computing service. Keane touted Azure’s ability to help the agency handle "sensitive unclassified data" and use tools such as facial recognition and identification. "The agency is currently implementing transformative technologies for homeland security and public safety, and we’re proud to support this work with our mission-critical cloud," Keane wrote in the post.