Reportedly China's push to export its surveillance technology via some of its biggest companies, including to liberal democracies, has raised concerns because of the risk of data being siphoned back to Beijing and the growing influence of the Communist Party.
The world’s second largest economy has built a vast surveillance state comprised of millions of cameras powered by facial recognition software. The devices perched on lamp posts and outside buildings and streets, are able to recognize individuals. Some of China’s most valuable technology firms have been involved in such projects across the country. But this technology is now being exported as the nation’s technology firms expand their global footprint.
Some of these so-called “smart city” projects, which include surveillance technologies, are underway in Western countries, particularly in Europe, including Germany, spain and France, according to analysis by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
