New CCTV cameras in Hong Kong to be equipped with facial recognition technology, security chief says
Hong Kong Free Press
New CCTV cameras in Hong Kong will be equipped with facial recognition technology, the city’s security chief has said.
In an interview published by iCable on Friday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang said the government planned to introduce artificial intelligence to be able to identify faces in the thousands of new CCTV cameras the city is setting up.
“We might have to review a lot of CCTV [footage] to identify a person… often, this could take quite a lot of time,” he said in Cantonese.
“If we had artificial intelligence, it would be different,” Tang said, adding it would “significantly raise the effectiveness of police’s law enforcement.”
Hong Kong authorities said earlier that it was installing new sets of CCTV cameras as part of a surveillance programme targeting crime blackspots.
In February, Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu said he would not rule out the possibility that the surveillance cameras would have facial recognition functions. A Legislative Council paper published that month on the city’s “digital policing” efforts made no mention of such technology.
‘Stringent rules’ for accessing footage
Hong Kong authorities set up 15 sets of the new CCTV cameras in Mong Kok in April. Tang told iCable that the cameras had helped police investigate 13 crimes, including theft and robbery.
The city aimed to install a total of around 2,000 sets of CCTV cameras by the end of next year, followed by 2,000 to 2,500 each year after that. Siu earlier said that the first 2,000 sets of cameras would be installed by the end of 2024.
Recorded content will typically be kept for 30 days, Tang said, adding that strict guidelines for accessing the footage met privacy regulations.
“We have very stringent rules. Footage will be saved in our system and if necessary, if there is a crime, police officers [above] certain ranks must give permission before it can be used,” the security chief said.
Tang said the authorities were looking into whether the funding needed for facial recognition technology required approval from the Legislative Council. He did not give an answer as to when the facial recognition technology may be implemented.
Hong Kong’s police force as well as government departments, such as the Housing Department, the Transport Department and the Immigration Department, have CCTV systems installed across the city. The cameras are used for anti-theft purposes, monitoring traffic and other needs.
In 2019, when asked by a lawmaker, then-Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip said none of the cameras had automated facial recognition technology.
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