According to documents consulted by The Guardian, Google and Amazon accepted a secret clause in the $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 with the Israeli government, which includes a system called 'winking mechanism'. This allows Israel to be informed when its data is accessed by foreign authorities. The requirement arose from Israel's concerns that data transferred on cloud platforms could reach foreign authorities.
The contract, known as Project Nimbus, requires companies not to limit the use of their services by Israeli government agencies, even if this could violate the terms of use. Google and Amazon have denied that they would evade legal obligations, emphasizing that they respect customer confidentiality. These measures have been imposed to counter the risks related to possible international legal actions and internal pressures on the companies.