Leaked files reveal how Google and Amazon accepted secret terms granting the Israeli entity unprecedented control over cloud data and surveillance tools.
When Google and Amazon sealed a $1.2 billion cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government in 2021, they agreed to more than just technical terms. According to a leak-based investigation by The Guardian, "Israel" insisted on a clandestine addition, a covert signal system known as the “winking mechanism".
The unusual demand required the two tech giants to discreetly alert Israeli authorities whenever they were compelled to share Israeli data with foreign law enforcement agencies.
In practice, this meant finding a way to bypass global legal disclosure limits, a move that could place the companies in potential conflict with international law.
Secret signal hidden in the cloud
Governments worldwide routinely request access to customer data from major cloud firms to aid criminal investigations, often under strict gag orders. But for "Israel", the prospect of its data ending up in foreign hands posed an acute security concern. To address that, officials devised an encrypted warning system: whenever Google or Amazon complied with a foreign subpoena, they would covertly signal "Israel" through coded financial transactions.
The companies reportedly agreed to the scheme, dubbed the “winking mechanism”, to secure the lucrative Project Nimbus contract, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian in collaboration with Israeli outlet +972 Magazine and Israeli publication Local Call.
The leaked records detail how the two tech firms accepted a set of “stringent and unorthodox” conditions demanded by "Israel", which sought to retain absolute control over its data. Both Google and Amazon have denied violating any legal obligations.
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