Chinese video surveillance company Hikvision advertises ethnic recognition features

Chinese video surveillance company Hikvision has been advertising ethnic recognition features as part of its new batch of security updates, reported The Hongkong Post. Many world leaders are thus questioning if the firm should be allowed to function within the domestic markets.

Hikvision has since long faced criticism for its failure in upholding secure networks for international clients. The company faces several espionage allegations across different countries.

The UK government as a result of the allegations put a blanket ban on Chinese cameras in governmental buildings. The government later called for an absolute ban on the sale and use of security cameras made by Hikvision and Dahua, both partly owned by the Chinese government.

According to a report in The Hongkong Post, these actions were not in isolation, they came at a time when the U.S had already warned nations around the world that Chinese tech firms posed significant security threats, one which if not prevented, can prove to be detrimental to their vital national security interests.

The report also said that Hikvision had been placed on US's trading blacklist in 2019 after the Commerce department claimed that the company in question had played a collusive hand in Human Rights abuses and had implemented China's repressive campaigns against its domestic ethnic minority communities

In view of Hikvision's links with the Chinese military, Former US President Donald Trump signed an order banning American companies and individuals from investing in the firm.

Moreover, during the same time a provision was included in the National Defence Authorization Act prohibiting federal agencies from indulging in video surveillance contracts with Hikvision, reported The Hong Kong Post.

Recently, the United States banned the import or sale of new communications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE, citing national security threats.

In a statement, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had adopted the final rules that bar the sale or import of equipment made by Chinese firms Dahua Technology, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Hytera Communications.

"The new rules prohibit the authorization of equipment through the FCC's Certification process, and make clear that such equipment cannot be authorized under the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity process or be imported or marketed under rules that allow exemption from an equipment authorization," the FCC said in a statement.

The FCC said it has adopted new rules prohibiting communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security from being authorized for importation or sale in the United States.

( With inputs from ANI )