UK Camera Commissioner Calls For Ban on Government Hikvision Contracts
The UK's top video surveillance official is pushing for Hikvision to "not be allowed to bid for contracts within government" over its failure "to come clean about the extent of its involvement" in Xinjiang human rights abuses.
Camera commissioner Fraser Sampson wrote in two letters to UK officials that Hikvision's refusal to answer his questions about Xinjiang is "unacceptable" and called for government departments to conduct "due diligence" on Hikvision purchases.
This comes after the UK's health department banned Hikvision, per UK media. This increases pressure on the UK to adopt an NDAA-style government purchasing ban at all levels of government, although there are no signs yet this will happen after the UK government rejected a total ban last year.
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********, *** ** ************ ***** *** thinking **significant ***************** ** *** ******** *** ************** about Hikvision’s business and its operations in the UK. Despite repeated attempts to engage with the Commissioner under normal business circumstances, the Commissioner refuses to meet with the Company unless *** ******* ******* ** ******** **** *** ******** of such a meeting on the Internet is met. Like any global company withproprietary ** ************ ***********, we simply request our meeting with the Commissioner be treated confidentially. Our invitation stands. [emphasis added]
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