Chinese companies are shaping international standards governing facial recognition technology while building out surveillance infrastructure in developing countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union crafts regulations for surveillance technology for much of the developing world, while countries in North America and Europe are primarily governed under other regionally-controlled bodies. China has grown its influence over the ITU, which includes 200 member countries, through superior technology and promised investments in poorer countries, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times.
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” supports building infrastructure around the globe. Developing countries have largely taken advantage of the Chinese handout and allowed the Communist-controlled regime to build up surveillance apparatuses that funnel data back to China.
The Chinese have especially focused on Africa to improve how its facial recognition technology works on dark skin tones. Uganda said in August that the Chinese telecom company Huawei was installing a nationwide surveillance system in the country. Chinese tech in Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other African countries allows China to collect data on millions of Africans.
Human rights groups are voicing concerns over China’s aggressive push to lead the world in facial recognition and surveillance technology.
“There are virtually no human rights, consumer protection, or data protection experts present in ITU standards meetings so many of the technologies that threaten privacy and freedom of expression remain unchallenged in these spaces,” Article 19 ITU specialist Mehwish Ansari said. Article 19 is a nonprofit advocacy group for human rights in the digital sphere.
“When it comes to facial recognition [these standards are] extremely dangerous from a human rights perspective,” Ansari said.
