Hong Kong repeatedly ranks among the world’s safest big cities. So why are police authorities planning on installing thousands of new security cameras, equipped with powerful AI facial recognition?
The Hong Kong Police Force claims the cameras are to help prevent crime and improve public safety, as well as identify criminals. But residents and critics of the Chinese government argue that the cameras, and the AI facial recognition technology, will be used to keep tabs on people it perceives as a threat.
Security Chief, Chris Tang, announced back in July its intention to employ facial recognition technology, as well as artificial intelligence.
"We are studying how police in other countries use surveillance cameras, including how they use AI," said Tang.
It has previously been reported that the city aimed to install 2,000 sets of CCTV cameras by the end of 2024, followed by 2,000 to 2,500 every year after that. Recorded footage will typically be kept for 30 days, noted Tang.
The announcement has been negatively met by some experts who fear that this is another step closer to bringing Hong Kong under the intense surveillance of mainland China.
A study from 2022 entitled The ethics of facial recognition technologies, surveillance, and accountability in an age of artificial intelligence asserts:
"FRT (facial recognition technology) is no longer a topic of science fiction or a concern for the future. It is here now, impacting people’s lives on a daily basis, from wrongful arrests to privacy invasions and human rights infringements."
Hong Kong was handed back to China by the British government in 1997, and China agreed to allow the city and surrounding region political autonomy for 50 years under the "one country, two systems," framework.
Despite this agreement, in recent years Beijing has been cracking down on Hong Kong’s freedoms, resulting in mass protests in the city and sparking international criticism.
In 2020, Beijing imposed a national security law that granted wide-ranging new powers to silence and punish critics of the government, fundamentally changing life for residents of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong currently has more than 54,000 public CCTV cameras used by government bodies, for a population of approximately 7.3 million people. That’s about seven cameras per thousand people, according to an estimate by Comparitech, a UK-based technology research company.
According to CNN, this puts Hong Kong on par with New York but behind London (13 cameras per 1,000 people) and very far off closely-monitored mainland Chinese cities – which average about 440 cameras per 1,000 people.
Comparitech also found that eight of the ten most surveilled cities in the world are in mainland China, where facial recognition is a normal part of resident’s daily life – from facial recognition gates in subway stations, to facial scans when registering a new phone number.
Take a look at our guides to the best fake security cameras, the best floodlight cameras, and the best 360-degree outdoor security camera.
