Digital Rights Weekly Update: 7 - 14 August

7amleh Releases a Guide on Digital Hygiene of Digital Devices to Protect Privacy

7amleh

August 10, 2025, 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has released a new Arabic-language guide titled "Erase Me from Your Memory: A Short Guide to Digital Hygiene for Computers, Smartphones, and Tablets." The guide aims to raise awareness about the risks of retaining personal data after selling or recycling devices. It explains that traditional methods of file deletion or "factory reset" are not sufficient to ensure privacy protection, as deleted files can still be recovered through various means—exposing individuals to risks such as data leaks, extortion, and identity theft. The guide highlights the importance of securely and permanently erasing data before disposing of digital devices and provides practical instructions for data deletion across various operating systems, including Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux. It also introduces readers to specialised tools for permanent file deletion and emphasises the importance of digital responsibility, particularly in contexts where Arabic-language digital literacy remains limited.

Israel’s PR Spin Intensifies to Counter Global Outrage Over Gaza

PassBlue

As international calls intensify for Israel to stop its deadly military operations in Gaza, the Israeli government has heightened its efforts to control the global narrative through a surge in paid and coordinated messaging on X to reinforce its own perspective, attack traditional media and amplify supporting voices. Israel’s official government account, @Israel, has ramped up its posts and sponsored ads on X to try to divert attention away from graphic images of Palestinian children looking like sacks of bone, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) escalate their war against Hamas and continue to severely restrict food and other humanitarian material into the Palestinian strip. The government account currently has 1.8 million followers and is run by the Israel Foreign Ministry. The paid posts target media outlets such as the BBC, CNN and The New York Times, labeling their reports as “fake news” and accusing them of spreading Hamas propaganda. In the last few weeks, especially after Western countries like France, Britain, Canada and Australia announced their intention to recognize the State of Palestine, Israel has upped its messaging on X to disprove the harsh realities of ordinary Palestinians being starved and killed in the 22 months of war.

Artificial Intelligence and the Orchestration of Palestinian Life and Death

Tech Policy Press

Criticism is mounting in response to the apparent starvation campaign waged by Israel in Gaza, prompting policymakers to probe the system of humanitarian aid delivery managed by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Following Israel’s ban of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), GHF was established in February 2025 to take charge of aid distribution in Gaza. A few months later, plans for mandating the use of facial recognition tools at distribution sites surfaced, leading rights groups to decry this hypothetical ‘biometrics-for-food’ mechanism of control and surveillance. It wasn’t until July that a GHF contractor corroborated the use of facial recognition cameras in distribution sites. This weaponization of biometrics and facial recognition marks yet another expansion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the occupation of Palestine.  Artificial intelligence has been integral to Israel’s strategy as a military occupying power. For years, AI has underpinned many surveillance and warfare systems, including assault rifles that transfer coordinates, sensor-to-shooter systems that position targets, armored vehicles designed to maneuver more optimally, and drones that strike targets. More recently, investigative reporting by +972 Magazine brought to mainstream attention the use of AI tools such as Gospel, which generates lists of buildings to be targeted by airstrikes, in the most recent genocidal campaign in Gaza. However, the reliance on AI by Israel’s military is not new. Israel’s military called its 2021 military operation in Gaza “the first artificial-intelligence war,” announcing its use of Gospel along with many other AI programs.

Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows

Drop Site

In late July, the U.S. cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (PANW) announced that it had acquired the Israeli identity management and information security firm CyberArk, paying a staggering $25 billion dollars worth of cash and stock to purchase the firm. In addition to potentially injecting billions of dollars into the Israeli economy, Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of CyberArk further strengthens the relationship between Silicon Valley and Israel’s security-intelligence apparatus. Palo Alto is one of the world’s largest cybersecurity firms, and provides infrastructure protection, firewalls, and cloud security services to tens of thousands of companies internationally. Udi Mokady, CyberArk’s founder and executive chairman, is an alum of Unit 8200, the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate’s elite signals intelligence division. So are the four co-founders of Wiz: the Israeli cloud computing firm recently bought by Google for $32 billion. So, too, is Palo Alto’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer Nir Zuk. Palo Alto has expanded through a spree of high-profile acquisitions over the past decade, paying sometimes up to billions of dollars for startups aimed at expanding its cybersecurity offerings. Nearly half of these have involved companies with origins in Israeli intelligence, raising concerns about access to the vast amounts of data around the world that the company is charged with protecting. Palo Alto Networks did not respond to Drop Site’s request for comment.