Media: Hikvision aided Chinese police in tracking protesters.

Chinese police may deploy ‘alarm signals’ for various protest actions, using the software platform of Hikvision, the camera manufacturer. The Guardian.

According to the publication, descriptions of protest activity include ‘crowd gathering to disrupt public order in public places’, ‘illegal assembly, march, demonstration’ and threats of ‘petitions’.

Information about these features was found in technical documentation available on Hikvision’s website. Among others, warnings about ‘religion’ and the spiritual movement «Falun Gong» are also noted.

The technical document does not reveal details about how exactly these alarm signals work. At least nine types of notifications are related to protests:

• attack on state authorities;
• disturbance of order within a police department;
• illegal assembly, march, demonstration;
• disturbance of order in public places;
• obstruction of normal traffic flow;
• violation of traffic rules;
• riots in public transport;
• mass looting;
• threat of petitions.

The document also illustrates a large amount of data about individuals that the company allows its clients to track. Among them are political status, religion and ethnicity, demographics, as well as physical characteristics such as hairstyle, glasses and clothing.

According to IPVM researcher Charles Rolle, such surveillance methods raise serious concerns about freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.

“Technically these two rights are enshrined in the PRC constitution, but in practice the government severely suppresses these freedoms. I am therefore worried about how technologies can facilitate the tracking of repressed groups,” he said.

After IPVM contacted the company, the warnings about ‘Falun Gong’ and ‘religion’ were removed from the website without explanation.

Hikvision did not comment on the document or its contents.

Earlier, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission banned the import and sale of the company’s future communications equipment in the United States due to national security threats.

As reported in December, journalists drew attention to Hikvision’s brochure that advertised ethnicity-recognition technologies to European clients.

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