INDEX / DIRECTORY / COSTCO / DIGITAL

Costco DIGITAL

DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT UPDATED 2026-08-30
Digital Score 0.00 /10 D Costco - Complicity Index 260
Digital 0.00

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

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Enterprise Technology Stack & Vendor Relationships

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouses and e-commerce sites through Costco Wholesale Corporation and its subsidiaries.1 As of 10 May 2026, Costco reported 928 warehouses and e-commerce sites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.2

A current Costco job listing describes Google Workspace as the company’s core collaboration and productivity suite for a global workforce of more than 300,000 employees.3 The listing identifies Google Admin Console, Gmail, Drive, Vault, Gemini, Smartsheet, and Lucidchart, and refers to integrations with AWS IAM and Azure Active Directory.3 It also assigns administration, security-policy enforcement, and governance functions including DLP, auditing, data-residency controls, conditional access, SSO/SAML, and OAuth.3

Vertex’s vendor-authored customer page states that Costco’s Tax Technology Manager discusses sales-and-use-tax and VAT compliance within Costco’s internal SAP systems.4 The page does not state a deployment date, hosting location, data-residency configuration, or whether that relationship remains active under a particular contract.4

No public evidence identified of Costco’s point-of-sale providers, logistics-platform providers, security-operations-centre suppliers, endpoint or network-security tooling, camera vendors, loss-prevention vendors, or managed-security providers in the reviewed materials.1, 5, 3, 4 The subsidiary exhibit identifies significant legal entities, but expressly omits subsidiaries that are not significant in the aggregate.5

No public evidence was identified in the targeted retrievals of a Costco licensing, subscription, implementation, or managed-service relationship with Check Point, Wiz, SentinelOne, CyberArk, NICE, Verint, Claroty, Palo Alto Networks, Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Oosto, Trax, or another identified Israeli-origin enterprise, surveillance, or biometric vendor.3, 4

Surveillance, Biometrics & Retail Technology

Costco’s reviewed filings describe a warehouse-and-e-commerce business but do not describe surveillance-camera suppliers, biometric systems, facial-recognition deployments, automated license-plate recognition, or retail-loss-prevention technology.1, 2

No public evidence identified of Costco using facial recognition, gait analysis, behavioural identification, Israeli-origin predictive-policing tools, social-media monitoring, or workforce-surveillance products in the retrieved primary, company, and vendor materials.1, 5, 3, 4

The reviewed SEC disclosures do not provide a technology inventory or vendor-level account of in-store surveillance, customer identification, employee monitoring, or biometric-data practices.1, 5, 2 Costco’s disclosed operational footprint spans multiple jurisdictions, but the filings do not associate those locations with particular surveillance or retail-technology systems.1, 2

Cloud Infrastructure, Data Residency & Sovereign Cloud Participation

Costco operates e-commerce sites in addition to membership warehouses.1, 2 Its current collaboration-technology job listing establishes a Google Workspace dependency and identifies data-residency controls as part of the platform’s governance remit.3

The evidence does not disclose Costco’s selected Google Workspace data regions, the location of customer content, metadata, Vault material, or Gemini inputs, or any data-routing path through Israel.3 The reviewed FY2025 filings do not identify a cloud-infrastructure provider, cloud-region arrangement, data-residency policy, sovereign-cloud participation, or government-cloud contract.1, 5

No public evidence identified of Costco operating or leasing a data centre in Israel, participating in Project Nimbus or another Israeli-government cloud programme, or providing digital-sovereignty or resilience services to Israeli state or military institutions.3, 6

Costco’s disclosed significant-subsidiary list includes entities in Canada, Korea, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Australia, among others, but it does not disclose those entities’ data-hosting or cloud-service arrangements.5 As of 10 May 2026, Israel was not among Costco’s stated warehouse or e-commerce jurisdictions.2

Defence, Intelligence & Security Sector Technology Relationships

The reviewed FY2025 filings identify Costco as a membership-warehouse and e-commerce business and do not identify defence, intelligence, military, law-enforcement, or national-security technology contracts.1, 5 no public evidence identified of Costco contracts or technology provision to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, intelligence agencies, police or security bodies, or settlement authorities.1, 5, 3, 6

No public evidence identified of Costco developing or supplying offensive-cyber tools, autonomous-targeting systems, target-generation systems, or military-purpose AI.3, 7 The documented 2019 SAP Leonardo demand-forecasting initiative was presented as a retail bakery-operations application and is not evidence of those functions.7

No Israeli-incorporated subsidiary appears in Costco’s disclosed significant-subsidiary exhibit as of 31 August 2025, subject to that exhibit’s express omission of subsidiaries not significant in the aggregate.5 The May 2026 operating-location disclosure does not list an Israeli warehouse or e-commerce operating site.2

The reviewed proxy identifies Vanguard Group, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc. as the only listed principal shareholders, with 9.79% and 7.83%, respectively, as of 7 November 2025, and does not list a shareholder at or above 10%.8 The reviewed entity filings do not identify an Israeli controlling shareholder, Israeli corporate parent, Israel-based franchisee, or Israel-based operating location.1, 5, 8, 2

A historical Blackstone filing records that Hamilton E. James held a majority economic interest in Swift River Investments, Inc., a private family investment firm managed day-to-day by his brothers, in 2011.9 That filing concerns Swift River’s investment in U.S. private-equity software company iLevel Solutions, does not identify an Israeli technology investment, and does not establish Swift River’s current status, holdings, or Israel-related investments.9

AI, Algorithmic & Autonomous Systems

Costco’s 2019 SAP Leonardo presentation describes a demand-forecasting initiative for bakery operations using weather, promotions, sports events, and sales data to predict future sales.7 The presentation reported nine locations onboarded, phase-two development initiated, and planned deployment during the following year.7 Its ongoing status is unknown, and the presentation does not identify an Israeli supplier, Israel-based data processing, a state customer, or a military or security use.7

The Google Workspace listing refers to Gemini as part of Costco’s core collaboration and productivity suite.3 It does not describe Costco-developed AI systems, the handling or location of Gemini inputs, autonomous systems, or AI use beyond the listed platform scope.3

No public evidence identified of Costco-developed autonomous systems, algorithmic-decision products, generative-AI products, offensive cyber capabilities, or military-purpose AI.1, 5, 8, 3, 7 Costco’s e-commerce disclosures do not describe the algorithms, automation, decision systems, or data-processing technologies supporting those operations.1, 2

Technology Ecosystem & R&D Footprint

Costco began operations in Seattle in 1983 and maintains principal executive offices at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, Washington.1 It is a Washington corporation reporting under the NASDAQ symbol COST.1

No public evidence identified of an internal R&D organization, corporate-venture portfolio, startup accelerator, technology incubator, Israeli R&D facility, Israeli technology acquisition or investment, Israeli university IP or co-development relationship, or Israel-based technology-ecosystem relationship in the reviewed materials.1, 5, 8, 2, 3, 7

Costco’s FY2025 significant-subsidiary disclosure lists international operating entities but does not list an Israeli-incorporated significant subsidiary.5 The reviewed filings do not provide a complete subsidiary ledger, local corporate-registry extracts, franchise or licensing register, or beneficial-ownership information below SEC disclosure thresholds.5, 8, 2

Civil Society Scrutiny & Regulatory History

The reviewed FY2025 Form 10-K and 2025 proxy materials provide corporate, operational, governance, ownership, and significant-subsidiary disclosures.1, 5, 8 They do not identify civil-society allegations or regulatory actions specifically concerning Costco’s surveillance, biometrics, cloud, defence-sector technology, or AI activities.1, 5, 8

No public evidence identified in the reviewed authoritative UN, OHCHR, BDS, AFSC, Costco SEC, and Costco corporate sources of a Costco contract, partnership, tender award, licensing arrangement, or service agreement involving Israeli state bodies, the IDF, intelligence agencies, Project Nimbus, Israeli cloud infrastructure, or Israeli-origin surveillance, biometric, AI, or cybersecurity technology.1, 5, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

The supplied canonical-library full-text checks found no Costco mention in the 2025 Special Rapporteur report A/HRC/59/23, the OHCHR 2023 settlement-business database update, the OHCHR 2025 update, or the BDS Movement’s 30 November 2024 corporate-priority guide.6, 10, 11, 12 These are document-scoped findings and do not establish the absence of relevant relationships outside those materials.6, 10, 11, 12 Although A/HRC/59/23 discusses Project Nimbus, surveillance, AI, cloud infrastructure, and Palantir, it does not name Costco or establish a Costco relationship to Project Nimbus, an Israeli state entity, or an Israeli military or security body.6

AFSC Investigate maintains a Costco profile concerning prison labour in Costco’s supply chain; the reviewed profile does not allege or document Israeli-state, settlement, surveillance, cloud, biometric, AI, defence, or cybersecurity technology activity by Costco.13 Costco’s 28 August 2023 customer-service statement says that it does not take positions on social issues, is not involved in partisan politics, and does not contribute money to political candidates or issues; the statement does not specifically address Israel, Palestine, settlements, technology provision, or product sourcing.14

Costco’s Form 10-Q filed in March 2026 describes certain legal proceedings, and full-text searches of that filing returned no match for “Israel” or “sanction.”15 The proceedings discussed in the relevant note concern employment, opioid, and business or property matters rather than Israel-related technology sales or services, although this is filing-scoped and not a review of all courts or regulators.15

Pre-2020 reporting documented boycott appeals concerning Costco’s sale of Israeli-grown clementines in 2010; Costco stated through a senior vice president that it sourced clementines seasonally and expected purchases from Israel, Spain, and California as seasons changed.16 That reporting concerns retail produce rather than technology, and ongoing procurement is unknown.16 A 2010 CODEPINK account reported that a person it identified as a Costco representative said Ahava items were “pending delete” and would no longer be available once sold; this is an advocacy-group account rather than a Costco primary record and does not establish a settlement nexus, Costco’s current product assortment, or a technology relationship.17

Current advocacy pages from CJPME and Consumers Against Genocide call for a Costco boycott and assert that Costco sells Israeli or settlement-linked goods.18, 19 Neither reviewed page supplies a verifiable supplier contract, product-traceability record, customs record, or Costco response sufficient to establish the asserted settlement connection; these remain unresolved leads and do not evidence a Digital relationship.18, 19

Ron M. Vachris is Costco’s President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director, while Hamilton E. James is Chairman of the Board.1, 8 The 2025 proxy lists ten director nominees and reports each disclosed director and named executive officer as individually holding less than 1% of outstanding common stock.8

Footnotes

  1. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000101/cost-20250831.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20

  2. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983226000051/cost-20260510.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  3. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/collaboration-platform-engineer-at-costco-wholesale-4430764210 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  4. https://www.vertexinc.com/resources/resource-library/costco-automates-indirect-tax-processes-vertex-and-sap ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000101/costex21110k83125.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17

  6. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. https://blog.asug.com/hubfs/2019%20AC%20Slide%20Decks%20Wednesday/ASUG82803%20-%20Costco%20Leveraging%20SAP%20Leonardo%20to%20Streamline%20Fresh%20Food%20Production.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  8. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000159/cost-20251204.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  9. https://www.blackstone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/02/939cc133-279a-4b60-899c-880a6d8ec6e0.pdf ↩ ↩2

  10. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/ahrc5352-update-database-all-business-enterprises-involved-activities-detailed ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. https://bdsmovement.net/sites/default/files/2024-12/Guide%20to%20BDS%20Boycott%20%26%20Pressure%20Corporate%20Priority%20Targeting-30%20Nov%202024-Submitted%20by%20BDS%20movement.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. https://investigate.afsc.org/company/costco-wholesale ↩ ↩2

  14. https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/839/kw/who%20is%20on%20my%20membership ↩ ↩2

  15. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983226000029/cost-20260215.htm ↩ ↩2

  16. https://www.supermarketnews.com/grocery-categories/costco-targeted-for-selling-israeli-products ↩ ↩2

  17. https://www.codepink.org/stolen_beauty_victory_costco_feels_the_love ↩

  18. https://www.cjpme.org/costco ↩ ↩2

  19. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/email-costco-action ↩ ↩2