Millions of unsuspecting Scots are being spied on by cameras linked to the Chinese Government.
Hikvision devices are still being used across the country despite being branded a security risk in the UK in 2021.
The firm is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and was previously accused of supplying equipment to detention camps in Xinjiang, helping the repression of the Uighur minority.
It has denied providing any video to the government in Beijing but Chinese officials are able to order it to hand over data.
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According to The Times, only three Scottish councils do not use the Chinese-owned CCTV devices anywhere, while seven use claimed they did not use Hikvision in their public security cams.
At least 22 local authorities confirmed they continue to use the devices created by Hikvision by nine of the councils, with a combined population of 1.5 million people, using their CCTV in public spaces.
Rishi Sunak was PM at the time of the partial ban
(Image: ParliamentTV)
The UK foreign affairs committee called on the Rishi Sunak’s government to ban Hikvision from operating in the UK. A partial ban was announced a year later that only applied to sensitive UK government buildings.
The Scottish Government confirmed it was aiming to remove the devices from its premises, although the Chinese tech is still being extensively used by Police Scotland.
Police Scotland told the paper: “There are a large number of CCTV cameras across [our] estate and a number of these will be designed by Hikvision or include Hikvision components.
“We are aware of the issues raised by the foreign affairs committee and will continue to engage with the Scottish government.”
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Brian Plastow, the Scottish biometrics commissioner, added: “There is no general ban on Chinese cameras ‘security risk’ Hikvision by the UK or the Scottish government. Police Scotland also receives threat assessments from the UK intelligence community.”
Highland, Orkney and Stirling Council confirmed they do not use the devices. Six authorities did not respond the Times information request. Every other local authority confirmed it still used Hikvision.
East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Midlothian, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross and South Lanarkshire confirmed they use the cameras for public CCTV.
Aberdeen city council told the paper that it was “not aware of any instruction to discontinue use of Hikvision products”.
‘Our government doesn’t trust some companies’
It referenced the firm’s “recommitment to the UK market” after Vincent Devine, the UK government chief security officer, said a ban on the cameras being positioned at sensitive UK sites did not extend to councils or police stations.
Hikvision said: “The government’s decision endorses the security credentials of Hikvision’s products.”
Professor Fraser Sampson, a former UK biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner, said Devine’s clarification was not “an endorsement”.
He said: “You cannot partly trust someone, and it appears to me that our government does not entirely trust some companies.”
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