Despite warnings issued four years ago, Scottish local authorities continue to use Chinese government-linked surveillance cameras, raising significant security and human rights concerns.
An investigation by The Times has revealed that at least 22 councils across Scotland have installed cameras supplied by Hikvision, with nine local authorities serving over 1.5 million people using them for public space CCTV.
The widespread use of these cameras persists despite the UK Government’s foreign affairs committee urging a ban on Hikvision’s operations in the UK back in 2021.
The committee’s recommendation came after finding that the company’s surveillance cameras were being used in detention camps for the Uyghur ethnic minority group in China’s Xinjiang province.
Dr. Brian Plastow, former senior police officer and current Scottish Biometrics Commissioner, expressed concern over the lack of oversight, stating: “Scotland does not have a coherent strategy for the network of public space safety cameras and have said that I would welcome expansion of remit into this space should Scottish Ministers wish.”
The situation has sparked alarm among civil liberties advocates and security experts. Fraser Sampson, former UK Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, warned: “When it comes to increasingly intrusive surveillance by the police and local authorities you cannot ‘partly’ trust someone, and it appears to me that our government does not entirely trust some companies.”
Police Scotland acknowledged the presence of Hikvision cameras across their estate, stating, “There are a large number of CCTV cameras across the Police Scotland estate and a number of these will be designed by Hikvision or include Hikvision components.”
They added that they are “aware of the issues raised by the Foreign Affairs Committee and will continue to engage with the Scottish Government.”
The Scottish Greens have raised concerns about the ethical implications of using these systems. Ross Greer MSP, the party’s external affairs spokesperson, said: “China’s brutal dictatorship has built an all-encompassing surveillance apparatus which enabled it to imprison two million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps, destroy democracy in Hong Kong and engage in decades of cultural genocide and human rights abuses in Tibet.”
As the controversy unfolds, John Swinney, Deputy First Minister of Scotland, has pledged to explore further action on Chinese surveillance cameras in the public sector. However, with millions of Scots currently being monitored by these cameras, the debate over security, privacy, and human rights in public surveillance is far from over.
