UPDATE: UK supermarkets are tearing out invasive Hikvision cameras after we wrote to them. Tesco, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Iceland and Morrisons committed to removing rights-abusing CCTV cameras from their stores earlier this year.
Thanks to you, the previous government also placed a partial ban on Hikvision and committed to removing surveillance equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua from sensitive sites. Thank you for piling on the pressure by emailing your MP, writing to us and using our interactive map to inform us about the pervasive presence of these rights-abusing cameras.
Surveillance cameras made by companies linked to crimes against humanity watch millions of people every day in the UK. Hikvision and Dahua facilitate Chinese government’s persecution of the Uyghurs, from forced sterilisation in "re-education camps" to violent torture.
These companies have thousands of cameras in schools, hospitals and on high streets across the UK. They are violating human rights abroad and must be banned in the UK.
Make sure you personalise your email with your own reasoned arguments and feelings to help ban Hikvision and Dahua in the UK.
Orwellian Hikvision and Dahua CCTV cameras have swamped our public spaces.
Have you spotted one on your street? We’ve created an interactive map so that you can easily plot the location of it.
Together we can show how widespread this dangerous technology has become.
You can contribute to the crowdsourced map by clicking here.
Almost 70 MPs and Peers (10 Conservative, 25 Labour, 23 Lib Dems, 3 SNP, 2 Green, 4 Crossbench) have signed a pledge calling on the government to ban Chinese state-owned surveillance camera companies:
Rights groups René Cassin, Stop Uyghur Genocide, Free Tibet and Hong Kong Watch have also joined the call. It's now incumbent on the government to listen to parliamentarians, human rights campaigners across the globe and the public, and #BanHikvision!
| Name | Party |
|---|---|
| Steve Baker MP | Conservative Party |
| David Davis MP | Conservative Party |
| Damian Green MP | Conservative Party |
| Andrew Rosindell MP | Conservative Party |
| Sir Charles Walker MP | Conservative Party |
| Andrew Bowie MP | Conservative Party |
| Nusrat Ghani MP | Conservative Party |
| Baroness Morrissey | Conservative Party |
| Lord Bethell | Conservative Party |
| Lord Strathcarron | Conservative Party |
| Diane Abbott MP | Labour |
| Baroness Chakrabarti | Labour |
| Lord Hendy | Labour |
| Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws | Labour |
| John McDonnell MP | Labour |
| Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate | Labour |
| Lord Hain | Labour |
| Lord Sikka | Labour |
| Lord Browne of Ladyton | Labour |
| Clive Lewis MP | Labour |
| Ian Byrne MP | Labour |
| Kim Johnson MP | Labour |
| Dan Carden MP | Labour |
| Kate Osborne MP | Labour |
| Nadia Whittome MP | Labour |
| Andy McDonald MP | Labour |
| Mick Whitley MP | Labour |
| Rachael Maskell MP | Labour |
| Navendu Mishra MP | Labour |
| Lord Davies of Brixton | Labour |
| Lord Rooker | Labour |
| Baroness Blower | Labour |
| Baroness Lister of Burtersett | Labour |
| Chris Bryant MP | Labour |
| Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP | Labour |
| Sir Ed Davey MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Layla Moran MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Wendy Chamberlain MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Sarah Olney MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Christine Jardine MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Munira Wilson MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Sarah Green MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Purvis of Tweed | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Clement-Jones | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Storey | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Tope | Liberal Democrats |
| Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville | Liberal Democrats |
| Baroness Thomas of Winchester | Liberal Democrats |
| Baroness Harris of Richmond | Liberal Democrats |
| Baroness Ludford | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Stoneham of Droxford | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Wallace of Saltaire | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Stunell | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Scriven | Liberal Democrats |
| Wera Hobhouse MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Alistair Carmichael MP | Liberal Democrats |
| Lord Strasburger | Liberal Democrats |
| Baroness Brinton | Liberal Democrats |
| Caroline Lucas MP | Green Party |
| Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb | Green Party |
| Alyn Smith MP | SNP |
| Carol Monaghan MP | SNP |
| Joanna Cherry QC MP | SNP |
| Lord Bishop of St Albans | Crossbench |
| Lord Curry of Kirkharle | Crossbench |
| Baroness Young of Hornsey | Crossbench |
| Lord Alton | Crossbench |
| Big Brother Watch | |
| Rene Cassin | |
| Stop Uyghur Genocide | |
| Free Tibet | |
| Hong Kong Watch |
Our latest report reveals in stark detail how Hikvision and Dahua dominate the UK’s public sector CCTV networks.
Based on thousands of Freedom of Information requests, our new report ‘Who's Watching You? The dominance of Chinese state-owned CCTV in the UK’ blows the lid off China’s growing surveillance presence in our country.
These intrusive, advanced surveillance capabilities are being quietly normalised in the UK. That means not only is our privacy and security at risk in an increasingly dystopian surveillance state - but British taxpayers' money is funding companies implicated in genocide and modern slavery in China.
The power to stop the UK from expanding into a greater surveillance state operated by oppressive tech lies in YOUR hands.
We’ve launched a petition calling for a ban on the sale of Hikvision cameras in the UK. The British public should not be watched by advanced CCTV cameras involved in some of the greatest crimes against humanity of our time; nor should UK taxpayers be funding companies responsible for these technology-enabled human rights abuses. Take action!
SIGN HERE
1. Tech-enabled human rights abuses
2. Security risks
3. Dystopian surveillance state
Hikvision and Dahua provide the CCTV technology that guards concentration camps in Xinjiang, China and provide the backbone for the government-backed mass surveillance and persecution of broadly Muslim minorities.
Hide extra content...Reveal more...Public records show they have signed co-operation agreements with local governments, developed racist AI-driven cameras that profile and flag Uyghurs to the authorities. The Beijing regime holds large stakes in both companies.
These companies enable the atrocities in Xinjiang - and the same technology is being used by public and private bodies across the UK.
Whilst the rest of the world is turning its back on these dangerous companies, UK taxpayers are funding them to build a surveillance state at home.
Both companies have significant links to the Chinese government and have had significant security vulnerabilities exposed.
Hide extra content...Reveal more...On multiple occasions high-risk flaws in both Dahua and Hikvision have been exposed that could have left thousands of CCTV cameras in the UK open to hackers. Cybersecurity experts across Europe and the US have warned of serious security risks with the cameras.
Researchers in Italy found Hikvision cameras were sending unauthorised signals to servers, which were then traced back to China. Hikvision had no explanation for their cameras communicating with China.
On most new Hikvision and Dahua cameras, “smart” features powered by algorithms and AI are sold as standard, from behavioural analysis to face and gender recognition.
Hide extra content...Reveal more...High-tech cameras sell for less than £200 and are staring to make automated video surveillance a normal part of life in the UK.
Pushing back against these companies introducing sci-fi surveillance features into everyday life is vital to defend our privacy, to roll back Britain’s CCTV state, and to stand in solidarity with China's ethnic minorities who face persecution and genocide.
February 16, 2023
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November 24, 2022
