Lobbying campaigns by the US and UK to uphold ethical principles for Chinese facial recognition players took a new turn last week. It looks like machine vision camera makers have won one victory over regulators – and two losses.

In a related development, a key UK retailer has been recertified on that country’s voluntary principles for the ethical use of overt surveillance cameras. Marks and Spencer was the first retailer to receive a five-year certification, which ended this year.

At the same time, an update of the 12 guiding principles of the British code is debated.

Efforts to add a pro-human rights clause to the principles, aimed at dealing with sellers of biometrics, including CCTV maker Hikvision, appear to have failed.

The Mail on Sunday reported that the national government is rejecting calls to add regulations preventing companies with questionable ethics oversight records from selling products in the UK.

Hikvision has been feeling more horny lately, in both the UK and the US, for its role in providing surveillance systems specifically designed to neutralize any possible political, cultural and religious influences identified by the autocratic government in Beijing.

According to The Mail, Hikvision products are used by national and local government units and by UK private companies.

And, while not a scathing reproach, the UK’s CCTV chief has rejected a meeting with Hikvision to discuss his involvement in the oppression of ethnic minority Uyghurs in Xinjiang. and religious.

The government regulator declined Hikvision’s insistence that the meeting be kept strictly confidential.

Fraser Sampson, commissioner of biometrics and surveillance cameras, told industry publisher IPVM it would be hypocritical of him to agree to this condition. As the national flag-bearer for transparency in these areas, it would be unethical to hold a closed-door meeting with a salesperson.

This would likely be the case even if this supplier were not barred from further sales in the United States for its unethical practices and perceived security risks.

A proposed US ban affecting both Hikvision and fellow Chinese biometric supplier Dahua was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate with a total of four votes against. President Joe Biden must now sign it, a signature that is almost guaranteed.

The law would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from approving new sales of RF equipment posing national security risks, a category that includes Hikvision and Dahua.

Articles topics

biometrics | video surveillance | China | Dahua Technology | ethics | facial recognition | HIKVISION | regulation | United Kingdom | United States | video surveillance