LONDON: Samsung phones are at the centre of a growing online controversy over alleged “unremovable Israeli spyware,” in pre-installed apps raising concerns about privacy and device security.
The issue is trending on X and has attracted attention from media outlets and digital rights groups.
The controversy revolves around AppCloud, a pre-installed app on Samsung devices, which SMEX, a non-profit digital rights organisation operating in West Asia and North Africa, claims is deeply integrated into Samsung phones and cannot be uninstalled without advanced technical steps, such as rooting the device.
SMEX alleges this makes the app effectively “unremovable” and a potential security risk.
AppCloud was developed by Israel-based ironSource, now part of Unity. While it functions primarily as a marketing platform to facilitate the installation of other apps, SMEX has labelled it spyware, claiming it collect user data and could be linked to the Israeli state.
SMEX has called on Samsung to stop the forced installation of AppCloud and to allow users the ability to remove it safely.
“The investigation shows that AppCloud is unremovable and deeply embedded into the operating system,” the organisation said in an open letter.
According to online rumours, several nations including China are considering banning Samsung phones due to the Israeli spyware.
Microsoft cuts Israeli military’s access to cloud technology
In September 2025, Microsoft announced that the company has terminated access for Israel’s Unit 8200, the military’s elite intelligence agency, to certain cloud and AI services.
The Guardian reported that this follows revelations that Unit 8200 had used Microsoft Azure to store and analyse millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls in Gaza and the West Bank.
The surveillance system, operated over three years, reportedly processed as many as a million calls per hour, with data volumes reaching up to 8,000 terabytes.
Intelligence sources told the Guardian that the data was initially stored in a Microsoft datacentre in the Netherlands but was moved to Amazon Web Services in August 2025 after the investigation was published.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice-chair and president, said in a staff email: “We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians. We have applied this principle in every country around the world for more than two decades.”
The Guardian’s investigation, conducted jointly with Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language Local Call, revealed that Unit 8200 used Azure to collect, play back, and analyse cellular communications to support operations in Gaza.
Human rights experts have linked such intelligence use to deadly airstrikes and civilian casualties during the Israeli bombardment campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 68,178 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
