British police are leaving themselves open to spying by Beijing because of their reliance on Chinese-made cameras, according to a report from the government’s independent watchdog on surveillance.
Most forces across England and Wales use camera equipment that is either made in China or contains important Chinese components, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has warned.
Fraser Sampson, the publicly appointed commissioner, warned that such equipment poses both security and ethical concerns, at a time when tensions with Beijing are already high.
The report comes a day after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, warned that British jets are on standby to shoot down Chinese surveillance balloons if any are spotted in UK airspace. And it comes just three months after the government banned Chinese CCTV systems on government property.
Sampson said: “There are major security concerns with a lot of these cameras, both in terms of the technology they contain and what happens to the data that comes from them. If you buy a system like this, you have to be able to trust the company you are buying from.”
He added that using Chinese-made cameras also presents ethical concerns, since some have been implicated in helping the Chinese government monitor detainment camps for Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.
His comments came after Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, said the UK should “wake up” to the threat posed by China, following last week’s decision by Washington to shoot down a balloon officials believed to be carrying out surveillance.
Younger told the BBC’s Today programme western nations were “under full press of Chinese espionage”.
Sampson’s office surveyed all 43 police forces in England and Wales, asking them about the technology they use in drones, helicopters, body cameras, traffic cameras and other types of surveillance equipment.
Most of those – 39 – responded, 24 of which said they use CCTV cameras within their buildings made by one of five companies that are either Chinese or, the commissioner’s office believes, use multiple Chinese parts.
Eighteen forces said they used equipment made by those companies in external CCTV systems, while 11 said they did so for number plate recognition cameras.
Of the five companies, three are Chinese, one Taiwanese and one American. The Chinese firms are Hikvision, Dahua and Huawei.
The Taiwanese company is Nuuo, and the US company is Honeywell. Honeywell cameras have previously been found to contain parts made by Huawei, while Sampson said officers had found the same to be true of those made by Nuuo. Nuuo did not respond to a request to comment.
Hikvision, the world’s largest maker of surveillance equipment, is the biggest supplier of such products to British police.
The UK is one of Hikvision’s biggest markets, but the company has come under scrutiny in recent years for its role in providing cameras to the Chinese government for use in Xinjiang. In 2019, it was one of 28 companies placed on a US trade blacklist, as officials in Washington accused it of being implicated in “human rights violations and abuses”.
At least two police forces said they used Hikvision cameras in their bodycams, which Sampson warned could be used to send data back to Beijing.
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The report highlights a particular risk that systems could download automatic software upgrades enabling them to carry out surveillance that was not originally advertised as a capability. For example, CCTV cameras could easily be upgraded remotely to be able to read vehicle registration plates.
“Chinese companies can easily deliver system upgrades to such cameras which would allow them to record the video or audio and download them to Chinese servers,” he said.
His report warns: “It is clear that the full capability of some of the technology owned by some respondents is not fully understood, be that at the point of purchase or further down the line when software updates are downloaded.”
Meanwhile, data revealed by the Telegraph on Tuesday found that two-thirds of the camera drones in use by British police are made by the Chinese company DJI, which is also blacklisted in the US.
DJI dominates the global market in civilian camera drones, in part because its technology costs much less than that of western rivals. But US officials warn that the information from them could be seized by Beijing with no notice under the country’s national intelligence law. That law says companies must “support, assist and cooperate” with state intelligence services.
Sampson’s report found that 23 of the 31 forces that use DJI drones said they were aware of the risks posed by the drones but have continued to use them anyway.
The report called for additional guidance to be given to officers in charge of procurement about which companies were safe to buy from. But it also questioned whether those officers had sought enough information before making previous purchases.
“There are clearly issues with existing procurement processes, if a strict application of the current rules results in a force acquiring technology from a manufacturer or supplier about which there are legitimate security or ethical concerns,” the report says.
A government spokesperson said: “The National Cyber Security Centre has produced new guidance to help the police, and other organisations, assess and gain confidence in their supply chain cyber security.
“We are committed to promoting the ethical development and deployment of technology in the UK and overseas. We are aware of a number of Chinese technology companies linked to violations taking place in Xinjiang and are monitoring the situation closely.”
