Tesco and Morrisons ban Chinese state-owned CCTV cameras

Tesco and Morrisons have recently stopped purchasing Chinese-made CCTV cameras amid privacy and human rights concerns, The Telegraph has reported.

Morrisons is the latest grocer to remove the equipment supplied by Hikvision and Dahua over their alleged involvement in the persecution of the Uyghur Muslim minority in North-West China.

The supermarkets have joined the ban after being pressured from campaign groups led by Big Brother Watch, which launched a #BanHikvision campaign. Last year, almost 70 MPs had already called on the government to ban the sale and use of Chinese state-owned surveillance cameras. 

In the United States, Hikvision and Dahua CCTV cameras are already banned on national security grounds. 

According to The Telegraph, Morrisons said it was “committed to the protection and advancement of human rights in our supply chain and we take this issue very seriously”.

Because of ethical concerns over Hikvision, the store said it had stopped purchasing the company’s CCTV cameras in 2022 and had “transitioned to a new supplier whose devices we are phasing in”.

Meanwhile Tesco said to have taken immediate action to identify alternative suppliers as soon as it became aware of alleged “human rights abuses” involving the firms.

In the official #BanHikvision campaign, Big Brother Watch said: “These intrusive, advanced surveillance capabilities are being quietly normalised in the UK. That means not only is our privacy and security at risk in an increasingly dystopian surveillance state – but British taxpayers’ money is funding companies implicated in genocide and modern slavery in China.”