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A new Hong Kong police plan to expand it's AI-enabled SmartView CCTV system to places managed by other departments - including at 10 public housing estates - has provoked privacy concern among residents.
The city's police force said last Sunday that it will expand the SmartView system by the end of 2025. It offers real-time monitoring with functions such as number plate recognition, people-counting technology, and AI face recognition.
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"In terms of collaboration with other departments, the force's target for this year is to integrate cameras from 10 public housing estates managed by the Housing Department, three cross-harbour tunnels managed by the Transport Department, seven venues related to the National Games that are managed by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department, and four immigration control points," the force said.
There are currently 4,500 SmartView cameras across the city, but police say that 5,000 cameras installed by other departments and public organisations have also been brought into the network.
They added that, so far, the surveillance system had aided in detecting more than 480 criminal cases and led to the arrests of over 840 individuals. It has also been used for crowd control and to assist authorities during typhoons.
"We also shared the SmartView video feeds with the Drainage Services Department to assist them in monitoring flooding conditions in the city," Senior Superintendent Leung Ming-leung of the police Operation Wing added in the press release.
The cameras are mostly installed on lampposts, smart lampposts and government buildings, though police vehicle-mounted units were rolled out this summer too. Traffic light-mounted SmartView cameras are also set to make an appearance by the end of the year.
The use of real-time remote biometric identification systems by law enforcement in publicly accessible places is banned in the EU, with some exceptions. Such technologies have been deployed in the UK, though there have been concerns about wrongful identification.
Hong Kong does not regulate how law enforcement can use AI technology. Earlier this month, the city's privacy watchdog, an independent statutory body, declined to respond to AFP as to whether it had been consulted in the expansion of the surveillance programme.
A police spokesperson told HKFP that the expanded SmartView roll-out aims to prevent and detect crime, with shopping malls set to be considered for 2026. They did not respond when asked about which housing estates would be integrated to the system this year, nor did they say how estates are chosen.
They said they will ensure the SmartView expansion complies with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance by taking three measures: "1. Commissioning an independent consultancy to conduct the Privacy Impact Assessment; 2. Seeking professional advice from the Department of Justice and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; 3. Fully implementing relevant regulations on protection of personal data."
They added on Friday that police "will ensure personal interests of the public are safeguarded," but did not answer as to whether the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data had been consulted.
Though it is unclear which public housing estates will be first to be brought under the SmartView system, HKFP found there were mixed reactions from residents at two Chai Wan estates on Tuesday.
Choi Mang-sang, a 68-year-old resident of Wan Tsui Estate welcomed the move to integrate the estate's systems into the police surveillance blanket: "I[T]here are so many liars... there is nothing to be afraid of," he said in Cantonese when asked about privacy concerns.
Others were more concerned about privacy. A 17-year-old secondary school student surnamed Chow - also a Wan Tsui Estate resident - told HKFP: "[I]t's ok if [police] just monitor the outside areas, but if it is places with so many people gathering like the lift lobby, it would be something to fear... it is like a restriction on our personal freedom."
"I have been living in this area for many years and I have not heard of anything serious happening, it is full of cameras here already... we don't know what they would do with the recordings. It is like a violation to our privacy," he added.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 50s - a store owner at nearby Hing Wah (II) Estate - told HKFP in Cantonese that the new plan could be a double-edged sword: "There are positive sides as well as negative sides, right?... Public security could be improved, but it creates privacy issues at the same time."
A Housing Authority spokesperson told HKFP on Friday that CCTV is installed in housing estate areas such as lobbies, entrances, lifts, retail areas and car parks: "Notices are displayed at the ground floor lift lobby of the PRH blocks to notify tenants and visitors that video footage will be used for security and property management purposes."
They said that footage is retained for no more than 28 days and is handled by management personnel according to privacy laws: "Video footage which may be used for investigation or evidence will be retained until the relevant investigation or prosecution proceedings are completed."
Yau Tsim Mong District Councillor and Fight Crime Committee member Chan Siu-tong told HKFP on Tuesday that would be odd to consider that police cameras could be dangerous.
"There are already cameras operating in shopping malls, housing estates and public transport - would you prefer the cameras to be handled by the police under authorisation, or instead by the management of a shopping mall that can access the cameras causally?" he said in Cantonese. "You think it would be a problem to be monitored by the government, but not the owners of a shopping mall - it is illogical to think that way isn't it?"
"These cameras usually will not be accessed unattentively, especially when they are in police hands... the police are under public supervision, while the public don't have the right to know who accessed cameras - or when the cameras will be accessed - if they are in the hands of a private company."
"I think people would be more concerned if all the CCTV got taken down from their housing estate, right?" Chan added.