You may never have heard of Hikvision, but chances are you’ve already been captured by one of its millions of cameras. The Chinese company’s products can be found anywhere from police surveillance systems to baby monitors in more than 190 countries. Its ability to make decent-quality products at cheap prices (as well as its ties with the Chinese state) has helped make Hikvision the largest manufacturer of video surveillance equipment in the world.

But while Hikvision’s close links with the Chinese government have helped it grow, it is these links that may now be its undoing. The firm has helped build China’s massive police surveillance system and tailored it to oppress the Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

Read more:

Yang, Z. (2022, June 22). The world’s biggest surveillance company you’ve never heard of. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/22/1054586/hikvision-worlds-biggest-surveillance-company/