November 14, 2023 at 01:04AM
US-based research group IPVM has accused Chinese video surveillance equipment company Hikvision of developing technology to identify Muslim students fasting during Ramadan, based on their dining records. Hikvision confirmed winning the tender for the project but denied its products can analyze video streams to identify ethnic minorities. IPVM claims the project includes features to alert administration to fasting students. Concerns arise due to China’s human rights violations against Muslims. Hikvision had previously provided technology to identify the Muslim Uyghur population.
Meeting Notes:
– US research group IPVM has accused Hikvision of developing technology to identify fasting Muslim students based on their dining records.
– Hikvision confirmed winning a tender for the project on LinkedIn but denied its products can identify ethnic minorities in video streams.
– Hikvision claims that the project did not involve developing the mentioned features and is seeking clarification on the matter.
– The Chinese government’s announcement states that Hikvision was required to meet the tender requirements without exception.
– The $9 million contract involved building a “Smart Campus” system for Minjiang University in Fujian province.
– IPVM claims that the tender includes a system called “Assisted Analysis Of Ethnic Minority Students,” which alerts administrators to fasting students.
– The Minjiang University smart campus project also tracks various aspects of students’ lives, including book borrowing, holiday destinations, passport use, student club activities, and Chinese Communist Party membership applications.
– There are suspicions that China wants to monitor tired and hungry students observing Ramadan due to the country’s repression of Muslims and human rights violations against its Muslim minorities.
– Hikvision allegedly provided technology to identify Uyghur Muslims under a different contract with the Chinese government.
– Hikvision denies the report and says that identification functionality has not been available since 2018.