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I am writing to express my concern about the widespread use of Chinese state-owned surveillance technology in the UK, provided by companies such as Dahua and Hikvision. I urge the Home Office to ban these rights-abusing surveillance companies from the UK. I also urge the Government to instigate an independent national review of the scale, capabilities, ethics and rights impact of modern CCTV in the UK. Surveillance products made by Chinese state-owned companies Hikvision and Dahua have caused serious national security concerns, given their links to the Chinese state and their history of security flaws. Reporting from BBC Panorama has found serious security flaws in the devices that can be exploited by hackers or hostile foreign states. Last year, the Cabinet Office recommended that Government departments remove surveillance equipment made by “companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China” due to “security risks”. It is critical that protection is extended to the entirety of the UK. These surveillance cameras have also been used to facilitate serious human rights abuses in the Uyghur region (“Xinjiang”), Tibet and Hong Kong. Some of the CCTV cameras boast features such as “Uyghur alerts” and “ethnicity recognition” widely thought to be used in the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of minorities. Research has found that Hikvision and Dahua’s cameras are being used by over 60% of public bodies in the UK. Last year, Big Brother Watch published a report exposing the “dominance” of Chinese state-owned companies’ surveillance technology across the UK, revealing that these cameras are used by 73% of local authorities, over 3 out of 5 schools, colleges and NHS Trusts, and a third of police forces. The British public deserves the same protection as those working at ‘sensitive’ government sites. Leading retailers Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Iceland and Morrisons have all committed to no longer sourcing surveillance technology from Hikvision and Dahua. It cannot be right that British retailers are taking a more proactive approach to protecting the privacy and security of the public than the Government. Both the Scottish and Welsh governments have committed to removing the cameras from their buildings, and almost 70 parliamentarians have signed Big Brother Watch’s pledge calling for “a ban on the sale and operation of Hikvision and Dahua surveillance equipment in the UK”, condemning their involvement in “technology-enabled human rights abuses in China”, and calling on the Government to “commission an independent national review of the scale, capabilities, ethics and rights impact of modern CCTV in the UK." CCTV cameras have moved beyond passively filming, but now have advanced AI-powered capabilities that monitor, categorise and process vast amounts of personal data. Hikvision and Dahua are normalising these intrusive capabilities on the streets of Britain, posing a risk to privacy and security. The Government should urgently instigate a review of how and where CCTV is being used in the UK, to ensure that this kind of security risk does not present itself again. Given that they are used to facilitate gross human rights abuses, it cannot stand that Dahua and Hikvision should continue to be used to surveil millions of citizens across the UK on a daily basis. I urge you to ban these companies from the UK, and to instigate an independent, national CCTV review. Yours sincerely,

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