Half of London councils have purchased surveillance systems made in China connected with the exploitation of the Uighur people in Xinjiang, The Thomson Reuters Foundation has revealed.
In late 2020 Freedom of Information requests found that two-thirds of all 32 London councils and the next 20 largest UK city councils possessed Chinese tech linked with the ongoing repression.
16 councils in London owned technology made by Hikvision or Dahua, both companies are strictly regulated within the U.S.
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch said:
“There’s an idea many people have about CCTV cameras that they are just passive recordings, but what we have to acknowledge is that it’s increasingly active surveillance,”
“We’re talking about analysing footage, profiling people, processing data.”
Independent | Half of London councils revealed to use technology ‘linked to Uighur oppression’