Facial recognition know-how may very well be utilized in Hong Kong to combat crime, preserve nationwide safety: police chief Raymond Siu

Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-Yee on Sunday mentioned the federal government will set up 615 CCTV cameras within the metropolis by subsequent month, the primary section of a plan to place up 2,000 surveillance cameras by the top of the 12 months.

“We’re nonetheless within the preparation section, however we is not going to rule out the likelihood [of using facial recognition] as technological developments can undoubtedly assist us be simpler in regulation enforcement and different areas.

“Residents do not need to fret. The police will make use of those applied sciences to fight crimes, however we are going to achieve this lawfully.”

Siu added that authorities have been nonetheless within the early levels of figuring out the circumstances the place know-how could be used, resembling monitoring suspects, and didn’t rule out utilizing the knowledge for circumstances involving nationwide safety.

He mentioned the federal government had not determined how lengthy surveillance footage could be saved and that the town will have a look at operational procedures utilized in different jurisdictions.

Siu argued that the set up of solely 2,000 CCTV cameras was not sufficient for a densely populated metropolis resembling Hong Kong.

He in contrast the town with the UK, which began the set up of surveillance cameras within the Nineteen Nineties and now has greater than 7.3 million of them across the nation, and Singapore, which has 90,000 CCTV cameras.

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“That is solely the primary section,” Siu predicted. “We imagine, sooner or later, there might be greater than 2,000 cameras.

“We discover that there’s undoubtedly a necessity to make use of this for growing the extent of security and combating crimes.

“The usage of surveillance cameras has been confirmed to be extremely efficient in sustaining safety in different international locations.”

Siu mentioned the pressure would arrange a surveillance system impartial of current ones put in by authorities our bodies such because the Housing Division and the Leisure and Cultural Companies Division.

He promised that the brand new cameras would solely cowl public areas and that the federal government would seek the advice of the Workplace of the Privateness Commissioner for Private Knowledge in regards to the safety of data.

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Cheuk Wing-hing, the deputy chief secretary, first revealed the federal government’s plan to put in 2,000 CCTV cameras in densely populated elements of the town and high-crime areas final month.

The home laws will work alongside the 2020 Beijing-imposed nationwide safety regulation designed to penalise acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with overseas forces.