The Aveiro branch of Bloco de Esquerda (BE) is complaining today about the fact that Aveiro University has ‘given’ its virtual private network (VPN) to an Israeli software company with links to the army, secret services and arms manufacturers in that country.
In a release sent out to newsrooms, BE appeals to the university to cancel its contract with Check Point Software Technologies, based in Tel Aviv.
“The university has a history in the development of the internet in Portugal and ethical obligations towards human rights that should lead it to abandoning this company,” says the Bloco – suggesting the VPN “jeopardises the security of the entire academic community”.
“All internet traffic flowing through the university VPN passes through Israel, controlled by a company with close ties to the Israeli government, and the content can be analysed and stored, violating the privacy and security of the institution, its employees and its students,” warn the left-wingers.
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a technology that creates a connection between the employee/student’s device (computer and/ or mobile phone) and the University’s internal network via the internet, used for example for teleworking.
Contacted by Lusa, the university has reportedly “refused to comment”
In the same note, BE recalls that the Aveiro intermunicipal community (CIRA) also put its public transports in the hands of another Israeli company (Busway, part of the Afifi group) which, again, appears to have a direct link with the Israeli army.
Back in October 2024 (when the CIRA contract was revealed) BE called for its withdrawal on the basis that the Israeli company in question was “actively participating” in the war effort underway in Gaza.
At the time, CIRA’s president Joaquim Batista considered the Bloco’s demands “ridiculous and irresponsible” because ‘Portuguese law does not provide for the reasons given for termination’.
Batista added that even if it was legally possible to terminate a contract on the grounds of national affiliations, “it is an irresponsible position because we would be depriving the population of an absolutely essential public transport service for at least a year, until a new public tender could be produced, which could even be won again by Busway.”
Busway also runs services in Coimbra.
Source: noticiasaominuto/ Lusa/ Terranova.pt
