The largest Chinese video surveillance companies have left the international industry association

Hikvision and Dahua have left the international group representing security system manufacturers. Both companies provide technology for Italian public bodies

(Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP via Getty Images) Two of the main Chinese companies producing video surveillance systems, Dahua and Hikvision, have left the Security industry association (Sia), a US organization that collects the realities of the sector from all over the world, as reported by The Record. The first, Dahua, was deported last month with no official reason given. The second, Hikvision, resigned from the organization after months of controversy about its links with the Beijing government, which is a shareholder, and for which it has created video surveillance technologies capable of identifying ethnic minorities, used in the repression of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority living in the inner province of Xinjiang.

This seems to be the same reason that led to the expulsion of Dahua: both a member of the Security industry association and Ipvm, a dedicated specialized newspaper to video surveillance, they reported a series of promotions, dating back to 2020, in which the Chinese company claimed to have developed similar abilities to identify the facial features of Uyghurs. As Il Foglio said, Dahua supplied 19 thermal scanners for Palazzo Chigi.

A well-known company also in Italy, Hikvision provides the reference technology of the 2017 call for video surveillance of Consip, the public purchasing center that binds public administrations to purchase their cameras to implement security systems of buildings. In two separate investigations, published in April and July, Wired found that Hikvision cameras are used for the protection of the wiretapping rooms of the 134 Italian prosecutors - for over 1,100 cameras installed - as well as for the surveillance of the Collegio Romano, seat of the ministry. of Culture where the minister himself, Dario Franceschini, has his office.

A political question

After years of détente with China, according to the line indicated by two governments led by the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, the current executive headed by Mario Draghi took the first months of government to strengthen Italy's position in the Atlantic Pact. Also in the light of this foreign policy review, the massive use of technologies actively used for the repression of a minority of the Dragon has created some political discontent.

“We cannot be exposed to similar technological risks for the national interest - Antonio Zennaro, deputy of the League and member of the Finance Committee, had commented to Formiche. An in-depth analysis is necessary, in particular on purchases from countries that are not our allies. And also a review of the tender procedures ", with the aim, in Italy and in Europe, of" seriously incentivising the realities of the sectors that are within the golden power perimeter to bridge the technological gap quickly ".

Contacted by Wired for a comment, on the occasion of the investigation involving the Ministry of Culture, Hikvision specified that its technology is not specifically aimed at Uighurs: "The recognition function created by Hikvision was not focused on a single ethnic group ". A confirmation that these technologies would have been able to identify any minority. In any case, the company says, this function would have been removed starting from 2018. Now out of the market, the cameras promoted by the Consip procedures are also equipped with functions such as line crossing (when a border is crossed), audio listening and face recognition. Functions that, according to Wired, should remain dormant, despite having been paid for by the public administration.




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China Security Surveillance globalData.fldTopic = "China, Security, Surveillance"

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