Schools, councils, police forces and government departments are using Chinese CCTV, which is implicated in human rights abuses against Uyghur people.
Hikvision and Dahua are Chinese state-funded companies, which have already been blacklisted in the U.S. over security concerns.
Thousands of public bodies have purchased the equipment and use it across the UK, with capabilities ranging from facial recognition to behaviour detention.
Jake Hurfurt, head of research and investigations at Big Brother Watch, said: “It is horrifying that companies that provide the technological infrastructure for Beijing’s crimes against humanity provide cameras to 61 per cent of public bodies in the UK. The widespread use of Hikvision and Dahua CCTV in the UK is creating a dystopian surveillance state that poses serious rights and security risks to the British public, whilst indirectly supporting China’s persecution of ethnic minorities.”
The Times – British using Chinese CCTV linked to repression of Uighurs
IPVM – Big Brother Watch Calls For UK Ban of Dahua and Hikvision