Up to 12 police forces issue officers body-worn cameras made in China
Senior Tory MPs and surveillance experts have criticised police forces for using body-cameras made in China – despite rising fears of the spying and hacking threat posed by Beijing.
Reveal Media, a company based in London, provides at least 12 British police forces with the cameras – which are used to record encounters between officers and the public.
At least three of the forces all use its live facial recognition (LFR) technology, which scans the faces of members of the public in real-time to identify suspects.
The cameras are manufactured by a Chinese subsidiary, while others are made by Shenzhen Eeyelog Technology Ltd – which also supplies bodycams to the Chinese government, the i reports.
Iain Duncan Smith told MailOnline: ‘I don’t think any government department, or anyone involved in security, should be using devices made in China.
Reveal Media, a company based in London , provides at least 12 British police forces with bodycams – which are used to record encounters between officers and the public. File pic
‘They have been engaged in hacking and pose a threat – not least due to their involvement with Iran and Russia.
‘Ministers have got to put a stop to this straight away, because otherwise there’s a risk of these devices gathering data that they could use for their own purposes.
‘We should only be sourcing security equipment from responsible countries.’
Ministers ordered government departments to stop using Chinese-made CCTV cameras in November 2022 over security concerns, but no such ban has been placed on bodycams.
Experts warned that officers’ use of Chinese-made bodycams risks the public’s privacy and cited concerns over spying and hacking.
Just days ago the Chinese government was accused of being responsible for a hack on Ministry of Defence payroll data – a claim it denied.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said: ‘The Chinese Community Party is seeking to build a tech totalitarian state using data from around the world, and our dependence on this equipment is enabling that.
‘We cannot continue to provide hostile states with a back door into our security.’
Marc Schuilenburg, a professor in digital surveillance at Erasmus University and author of Making Surveillance Public, warned of the risk that ‘personal and often confidential data’ could be stored and exploited by Chinese officials.
A total of 12 UK police forces use bodycams provided by Reveal Media, according to government research.
It supplies live facial recognition cameras to British Transport Police, Leicestershire Police South Wales Police and Leicestershire Police, although all three forces have previously said they do not use the LFR function.
Reveal Media has also won contracts to supply bodycams to Devon and Cornwall Police, Sussex Police, South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police.
Reveal Media told the i it would not comment on the use of its cameras by British police forces ‘due to both the confidentiality provisions and the commercially sensitive elements of the contracts in place between us and those customers’.
Experts warned that officers’ use of Chinese-made bodycams risks the public’s privacy and cited concerns over spying and hacking. Pictured is China’s President Xi
‘Shenzhen Eeyelog Technology is the manufacturer of one of our cameras and that camera is one that does not have facial recognition capability. They are not involved in the manufacture or production (partly or fully) of any facial recognition cameras or software for Reveal Media or any of its affiliated companies’.
MailOnline has contacted the company for comment.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘The procurement and use of technology such as body worn cameras are operational matters for each police force. We are continuing to ensure that future procurement is both secure and ethical.
‘We are committed to making sure the police have the tools and technology they need to deter and detect crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe.’
News of the hack on the Ministry of Defence emerged on Tuesday and led to immediate claims China was responsible.
No10 refused to openly blame Beijing for the hack, which potentially compromised the bank details of all serving military personnel and some veterans – and may have also released some home addresses.
News of the hack on the Ministry of Defence emerged on Tuesday and led to immediate claims China was responsible
Speaking to broadcasters in south-east London, Rishi Sunak said there were ‘indications that a malign actor’ had compromised the database, but declined to attribute the attack to a specific state or ‘actor’.
But politicians and experts said the attack, via a third-party contractor used by 22 government departments, bore all the hallmarks of Chinese origin.
The cyber-attack mirrored China’s assault on the Electoral Commission’s computers and its recent targeting of Members of Parliament and Peers.
In 2021, Beijing’s hackers accessed the personal details of millions of voters by breaking into the Commission’s internal email system. Details of the attack only emerged earlier this year.
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