Hong Kong police are pursuing an ambitious plan to install thousands more CCTVs to enhance surveillance, CNN reported on the 5th (local time).
The additional CCTV to be installed will be equipped with powerful face recognition as well as artificial intelligence (AI) tools that will be used to track suspects.
As a result, some experts were concerned that Hong Kong was trying to transplant CCTV surveillance systems prevalent in mainland China into Hong Kong.
According to British cybersecurity information provider Comparitech, 54,500 public CCTVs are installed in Hong Kong. The figure is equivalent to about seven CCTVs per 1,000 people, which is less than 13 in London, but almost the same as New York.
Hong Kong police have already installed 2,000 new CCTVs this year, but have decided to install thousands more.
Criticism has been raised that the move is aimed at following the footsteps of China, which is strengthening its control by installing about 440 CCTVs per 1,000 people. China is monitoring residents of Xinjiang Uighur region by utilizing CCTV’s facial recognition and AI functions. The New York Times (NYT) reported that even when unprecedented protests took place across the country in late 2022 against the government’s strict COVID-19 pandemic control policy, Chinese police used CCTVs to track down protesters.
Anxiety that Hong Kong will tighten mainland-style surveillance and control has grown since the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. People participating in the protests at the time covered their faces with masks and goggles, and covered or smashed CCTV to prevent identification.
Hong Kong authorities also explained that “smart streetlights” installed everywhere were intended to collect data such as traffic and weather, but demonstrators took down smart streetlights because they suspected the installation of surveillance cameras.
“Can the Hong Kong government ensure that face recognition technology is never installed on smart streetlights?” said Joshua Wong, an activist and student leader jailed on national security-related charges at the time. “They won’t be able to promise because of pressure from China.”
Hong Kong police said in a statement that they will monitor only public places with CCTVs and delete recorded videos 31 days later. They will also follow comprehensive and strong internal guidelines when dealing with personal information.
However, experts say the police have not given details of internal guidelines and fear that existing police-friendly laws will not be able to adequately address CCTV’s problems.
Steve Chang, director of the SOAS China Research Institute at the University of London, England, warned that “new CCTV could be used for political repression if used under extreme national security laws.”
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
