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Hikvision
Hikvision, a state-owned company, was founded on 30th November 2001 and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China employs over 50,000 employees. It develops, manufactures, and markets a vast range of security surveillance products.
Hikvision is not the first Chinese corporation to face human rights allegations, but this time, the company faces a significant challenge from UK lawmakers.
“UK taxpayers should not be paying for human rights abusing Chinese tech, let alone doing so on such an extraordinary scale,” says Baroness Shami Chakrabarti a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and human rights activist.
Can a sophisticated security surveillance technology such as AI be used as a weapon?
Beijing-made CCTV cameras use artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise faces, listen in on conversations, and analyse a person’s mood, making it a lethal weapon if exploited. Last year, the Italian national broadcaster Rai revealed that data acquired from a Hikvision camera installed on its premises appeared to transfer data to a server in China. Rai also reported that 100 cameras at Rome’s main airport had repeatedly attempted to connect with unknown servers.
On the other hand, we can approach this topic from a different viewpoint. ‘How does Hikvision differ from other security surveillance products?’ All cameras have vulnerabilities, and security vulnerabilities with Ring, Amazon’s DIY door entry system, have frequently made headlines. Multiple vulnerabilities in Bosch IP cameras were discovered during a certification effort by Kaspersky ICS CERT in a Penetration Test.
As of 2020, Hikvision UK employed around 350 people across five offices. Its specialised R&D centre, which opened in 2019, helping to develop new skills and creates new jobs in the UK and across Europe.
What does Hikvision have to say about this?
In response to the above allegations, Hikvision stated, “CCTV has always played a key role in the UK in the battle against crime and terrorism.” Hikvision is proud of its role in this. The UK also has fringe groups that want to see a decline in CCTV in the UK and are willing to spread false information about CCTV to demonise Hikvision. Hikvision has long collaborated with government agencies to deliver CCTV solutions for the UK.”
What are your thoughts on this?
Will you back up the anti-Chinese stance with a security surveillance system, or will you advocate for greater quality control?
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References:
Multiple vulnerabilities in Bosch IP cameras, 09 Jun 2021, Multiple vulnerabilities in Bosch IP cameras (boschsecurity.com)
China’s watching, 20 May 2022, There are tens of thousands of Beijing-made CCTV cameras lining British streets, writes ROSS CLARK | Daily Mail Online
UK Lawmakers Call For Ban On Chinese Surveillance Tools, 05 July 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2022/07/05/uk-lawmakers-call-for-ban-on-chinese-surveillance-tools/?sh=6c5335673c57