Clarks - Digital Audit

Enterprise Technology Stack & Vendor Relationships

Clarks consolidated its end-to-end cybersecurity estate onto Check Point Software Technologies’ Infinity architecture in September 2022, replacing multiple prior point-solution vendors with Check Point Harmony (endpoint and remote access), Quantum (network security gateways), and CloudGuard (cloud security) ¹². Check Point’s own customer-story page for Clarks lists deployed products as Security Gateways, Endpoint Security, Cloud Firewall, Security Management R81, SmartEvent, and Compliance modules, and quotes Clarks Network Service Manager Dan Fletcher on the resulting gains in protection and centralized management ³. The engagement covers Clarks’ EMEA-region network, endpoint, and cloud security, and reduced the company’s security policy/rule count by over 50% through consolidation, a project driven in part by pandemic-era demand for scaled secure VPN access ¹³. Check Point was founded by former Israeli military (Unit 8200-linked) personnel, per background reporting on the company generally rather than on the Clarks relationship specifically ⁴. Check Point’s customer page for Clarks remained live as of the most recent indexing available (referenced February 2025), indicating the vendor continues to present the relationship as current, though no independent 2023–2026 news source was identified confirming renewal, expansion, or termination ³.

Clarks’ enterprise resource planning and analytics stack includes SAP S/4HANA for Financial ERP (in place since 2016), SAP HCM for Core HR (since 2018), and Microsoft Power BI for analytics/BI (since 2008) ⁵. Clarks’ mission-critical SAP systems run on SAP HANA hosted in a private cloud built on IBM Power Systems, delivered in partnership with IBM Gold Business Partner Elyzium ⁶⁷. This IBM/SAP infrastructure engagement is documented as supporting Clarks’ omni-channel retail operations across its footwear business ⁶⁷. An earlier digital-transformation case study documents Clarks’ broader move into digital retail systems ⁸.

Clarks’ 2022 digital transformation extended to its e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems across more than 500 stores, adding Apple Pay and Google Pay support and the NewStore Runner mobile-associate application, within an architecture described as aligned with MACH-Alliance “composable” principles ⁹¹⁰. In April 2026, Clarks launched a curated online marketplace powered by Marketplacer technology ¹¹. No Israeli-origin vendor was identified within any of the SAP/IBM, composable-commerce, or Marketplacer engagements.

A search-engine aggregator snippet listed Clarks among customers of Palo Alto Networks, but no primary source - case study, press release, or vendor page - could be located to corroborate this relationship, and it is treated as unverified. No public evidence identified of any relationship between Clarks and Wiz, SentinelOne, CyberArk, NICE, or Verint, despite targeted searches including for contact-centre or call-centre analytics use of NICE/Verint. No evidence identified that IBM, Elyzium, or any other systems integrator working with Clarks mandated or recommended Israeli-origin technology as part of these engagements ⁶⁷.

Surveillance, Biometrics & Retail Technology

No public evidence identified of Clarks using facial recognition, biometric identification, behavioural analytics, or gait-analysis technology from vendors such as Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Oosto, or Trax, across vendor customer lists, retail-technology trade press, and general search. No public evidence identified of Israeli-origin predictive-policing, sentiment-analysis, or workforce-surveillance tools in use at Clarks. No public evidence identified that Israeli-origin surveillance or biometric technology reaches Clarks indirectly via bundled retail-technology platforms; Clarks’ documented Check Point deployment is a cybersecurity engagement (network, endpoint, and cloud protection), not a biometric or surveillance system ¹³.

Cloud Infrastructure, Data Residency & Sovereign Cloud Participation

No public evidence identified that Clarks operates, leases, or co-locates data-centre infrastructure within Israel. Clarks’ known private-cloud hosting runs on IBM Power Systems delivered via IBM Gold Partner Elyzium, but the specific physical location of this infrastructure is not disclosed in available sources ⁶⁷. No public evidence identified linking Clarks to Project Nimbus or to any Israeli government or state-backed cloud programme; targeted searches for a Clarks nexus to Project Nimbus, the IDF, or the Israeli military returned only general background on the Google/Amazon programme with no connection to Clarks. No public evidence identified of Clarks providing data-sovereignty or resilience services to Israeli state institutions.

Defence, Intelligence & Security Sector Technology Relationships

No public evidence identified of any contract or service agreement between Clarks and Israel’s Ministry of Defence, the IDF, or Israeli intelligence agencies; Clarks operates as a footwear retailer and manufacturer with no defence-sector technology offering. This category is not applicable to Clarks’ business model, as Clarks develops no dual-use or offensive-cyber technology and is solely a consumer, not a provider, of commercial technology products. No public evidence identified of any Clarks product being repurposed for military, intelligence, or law-enforcement surveillance use.

AI, Algorithmic & Autonomous Systems

Clarks’ documented use of algorithmic/analytics technology is limited to internal operational tools - Microsoft Power BI analytics and the NewStore Runner mobile-associate application - deployed for its own retail operations rather than provided to external customers ⁵⁹¹⁰. No public evidence identified of Clarks providing AI or machine-learning products to Israeli state bodies, as Clarks is not a technology vendor. No public evidence identified of Clarks training data or model development on surveillance-derived datasets. No public evidence identified of Clarks involvement in autonomous or lethality-related systems; this category is not applicable to Clarks’ business model.

Technology Ecosystem & R&D Footprint

No public evidence identified of any Clarks research-and-development facility, engineering office, or innovation lab located in Israel. No public evidence identified of Clarks acquiring or investing in any Israeli technology company or venture fund. No public evidence identified of Clarks holding patents, IP, or academic co-development arrangements with Israeli institutions such as the Technion, Hebrew University, or the Weizmann Institute. Clarks’ ownership chain runs through LionRock Capital and Li Ning subsidiary Viva China, which completed a majority-stake acquisition of Clarks in 2021 and installed Victor Herrero as CEO ^12131415; Herrero subsequently left the CEO role after less than a year ¹⁶. Review of Herrero’s LionRock Capital profile and the Viva China/Li Ning ownership chain found no Israel-linked investment or governance ties, though a full review of all board members and shareholders holding 10% or more was not exhaustive.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Regulatory History

Clarks does not appear in the OHCHR database of business enterprises operating in connection with Israeli settlements, as most recently updated in September 2025 ¹⁷¹⁸. Clarks was not named in coverage of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s July 2025 report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23) in any source reviewed ¹⁹. A direct search of the Who Profits company database did not locate a Clarks entry, though the traversal was not exhaustive across all listing pages. By contrast, Who Profits documents Fox-Wizel Ltd. (Fox Group) as operating in Israeli settlements, and a December 2023 BDS coalition report similarly names Fox Group brands in this context - these findings concern a separate company and are not evidence of any Clarks nexus ²⁰²¹.

No public evidence identified of an organized boycott or divestment campaign targeting Clarks specifically on technology-provision grounds. General footwear-boycott listicles reference Clarks in connection with its ownership structure under LionRock Capital, Viva China, and Li Ning rather than any technology relationship with Israel, and none were confirmed as active, organized campaigns within this review. No public evidence identified of any regulatory or legal action concerning Israel-related technology sales by Clarks.

Regarding retail presence in Israel: Clarks products are sold via third-party channels, including the Next Israel retailer listing ²², an independent/unofficial “Clarks Israel Outlet” website ²³, and a Clarks Originals pop-up event held at Teder in Tel Aviv ²⁴. No official Clarks-branded distributor or franchisee for Israel was identified by name in available sources. No evidence identified of a Clarks-branded store, franchisee, or reseller operating within West Bank, Golan Heights, or East Jerusalem settlements; targeted searches for Clarks presence in Ariel, Gush Etzion, and Ma’ale Adumim settlement malls returned only unrelated brands ²¹²⁵. Clarks’ confirmed regional franchise partner for the Middle East is the Dubai-based Apparel Group, with an announced expansion into Saudi Arabia ²⁵²⁶, and no evidence identified of Apparel Group’s involvement in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories specifically.