FB pixel

China surveillance policies follow facial recognition spread along Silk Road: activists

China surveillance policies follow facial recognition spread along Silk Road: activists
 

Chinese technologies and tactics to tackle dissent and control internet use are spreading to countries along its Digital Silk Road, according to activists speaking to the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, who fear that China itself may be amassing data.

The TRF report includes the case of people protesting job losses at a Hong Kong-listed casino in Phnom Penh, where drones hovered above them as they spoke out. Cambodian activists say they are under constant surveillance, by technology supplied by China via digital surveillance packages.

Activists state the technologies are deployed without a legal framework, without public consultation. They claim the technologies such as AI facial recognition that were used for discriminating against Uyghurs in smart city projects in China.

The Digital Silk Road, part of the larger Belt and Road Initiative to raise China’s global status via grand infrastructure projects, aid and political support. The Digital Silk Road focuses on improving recipients’ telecommunications networks, e-commerce, smart cities, surveillance and on helping China’s companies export their technologies to recipient countries, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cambodia signed a deal with China for biometric surveillance and DNA screening equipment in 2021, reported VOA. China has installed more than a thousand CCTV cameras in Phnom Penh since 2015. A government spokesperson told TRF that the surveillance equipment is for fighting crime. The country is building a system similar to China’s internet firewall to block websites.

Cambodia is also developing a biometric digital ID and civil registry system.

In Myanmar, Chinese firms are building 4G and 5G networks and facial recognition systems. The ruling junta has copied China’s cyber laws such as blocking Facebook and Twitter. Activists there fear that facial recognition is targeting protestors.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), a Washington D.C. think-tank, estimates that Chinese AI surveillance technologies are now being implemented in more than 50 countries that are part of the BRI. ASD, another U.S. think-tank, is concerned that China is collecting data via these systems.

Similar concerns were recently raised much further along the Silk Road from Beijing, with Serbia’s Safe City project raising concerns at home and abroad.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Kazakhstan building a secure and inclusive digital infrastructure

Kazakhstan is progressing in its digital transformation, improving security and convenience across businesses using cutting-edge digital public infrastructure (DPI). Prime…

 

Deepfake raises concerns ahead of 2024 US elections

Deepfake technology has emerged as a pressing concern in the lead up to the 2024 U.S. elections, with the potential…

 

Trust, privacy, human rights fundamental for DPI

Advocacy on the importance of digital trust, data privacy and human rights considerations in the design and development of digital…

 

Biometric liveness follows growth trajectory of AI threats

Biometrics and liveness detection are the bulwark against a tide of fraud, including sophisticated attacks using generative AI, in many…

 

More US airlines, airports moving toward biometrics for security, baggage

From Denver to Salt Lake City to Dubai, biometrics and digital ID are being activated to improve security and efficiency…

 

Russia wants to keep an eye on migrant workers with biometric IDs

Russia is tightening control over migrants entering the country by introducing electronic ID cards containing biometric data. Aside from biometrics,…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most Read This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events