
Azure Government and ICE - mdlincoln
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/azuregov/2018/01/24/federal-agencies-continue-to-advance-capabilities-with-azure-government/
======
smcl
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
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
Yep just noticed. Eh, still not cool to work with ICE I reckon. They’ve been
pretty nasty for a while

------
revx
Looking at you, the 53 Microsoft employees who signed
[https://neveragain.tech/](https://neveragain.tech/)

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

~~~
code_duck
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?

------
drewbug01
It's unfortunate how quickly this got flagged.

------
onyva
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.

------
thom_nic
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_
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.

------
s73v3r_
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
Well, to be fair, the linked post was published in January, well before any of
the kid-snatching articles were in the news.

~~~
code_duck
So this technology is probably currently in use to help massive human rights
violations go better for the people perpetrating them.

~~~
malvosenior
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_
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
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.

~~~
s73v3r_
"Incorrect. If a parent commits murder, do we imprision the child with them?
No."

I cannot take a single thing you say seriously now that you are comparing
murder to people fleeing from danger and trying to give their children a
better life. You are supporting a needlessly cruel policy, and what's worse,
you are hiding that, trying to justify it by saying that its the law, when
there is exactly no law whatsoever that forces this action.

~~~
malvosenior
So you think we _should_ lock up the children of criminals when the criminal
is arrested? That's all this is about. People are breaking the law, getting
caught and being detained. No amount of hyperbole is going to help your case
with people that aren't already deeply immersed in your philosophy. I wish you
could objectively hear what your argument sounds like to someone who's neutral
on this issue.

~~~
s73v3r_
"So you think we should lock up the children of criminals when the criminal is
arrested?"

And this is why I can't take you seriously; you are very clearly not arguing
in good faith.

"I wish you could objectively hear what your argument sounds like to someone
who's neutral on this issue."

You are very clearly not neutral on this issue. And quite frankly, I don't
want to meet someone who's "neutral" on the idea of separating children from
their parents, and locking them up.

------
malvosenior
> 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
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
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.

~~~
joering2
> 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
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.

