British surveillance camera monitor asks British government to clarify Hikvision position
- ‘There are serious unanswered questions about Hikvision’s involvement in appalling human rights abuses in China,’ says Fraser Sampson
- Sampson, the commissioner for biometrics and surveillance cameras, has asked the British government if it will still buy Hikvision products
Fraser Sampson, Britain’s commissioner for biometrics and surveillance cameras, said he has written to the Cabinet Office, as well as the minister for local governments in Britain, to understand whether they will continue to buy equipment from state-backed Hikvision.
The letters followed a report in The Telegraph this month that the Department of Health and Social Care had banned new purchases of Hikvision equipment because of “ethical concerns” that surfaced in a procurement review. The Health Department has not publicly confirmed the ban.
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“If companies won’t provide the information needed to do proper due diligence in relation to ethics and security, then they clearly should not be allowed to bid for contracts within government, or anywhere else in the public sector for that matter,” he added.
