The west to the West against Chinese technology will be serious again, and Hikvision is perhaps the next victim
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Geopolitics, not just technology, is quietly rewriting who can sell cameras in the Western markets
- Hikvision says it is unfair, but the shutdown shows that trust is no longer automatic for Chinese companies
- Company denies misconduct, but surveillance fears are now sufficient to end the entire business activities
Canada has commissioned the Chinese surveillance giant Hikvision to stop its activities in the country, stating concern about national security.
The prohibition follows a formal evaluation that is performed under the Investment Canada Act and marks a step against foreign technology companies.
“The government has established that the continuous activities of Hikvision Canada Inc. in Canada would be harmful to Canada’s national security,” said Mélanie Joly Minister of Industry.
International pressure and increasing suspicion
Hikvision, one of the world’s largest producers of security cameras, has been working in Canada since 2014.
However, the extensive global reach and ties with state -related projects in China have long been concerned about Western countries.
Although the government has not made the specific reasons behind its decision public, it has stated that information and security assessments have played a central role.
This silence is likely to feed speculation, as with previous action on Huawei, where classified intelligence was used to justify broad commercial restrictions.
The comparison with Huawei is not unjustified. Hikvision is now under the same type of control that has led to the expression of Huawei from 5G infrastructure projects in the Five Eyes Nations.
The US, the UK and Australia have all taken measures against Hikvision, in particular on claims used by its cameras to investigate Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region in China, accusations that Beijing denies.
The FBI has also warned Malware focuses on webcamsAnd the Western world often believes that Chinese IoT is demonstrably more dangerous than tapThat is considered spyware.
It is not surprising that Hikvision “It is not agree” with the decision of Canada and says: “We believe that it is a factual basis, procedural fairness and transparency”, the company claims that the move seems to be driven by the country of origin of the parent company. “
With geopolitical tensions that continue to define a large part of the West approach for Chinese companies, decisions such as the risk of Canada are seen less as technology -based judgments and more as political attitudes.
Hikvision claimed that it worked completely with the authorities and all requested documents, but this did not change the outcome.
It is unclear how many public buildings in Canada still use Hikvision devices, but Joly has committed himself to revising and throwing remaining equipment.
“I strongly urge Canadians to take note of this decision and to make their own decisions accordingly,” she warned.
The Canadian government seems to be concentrating on surveillance risks, and this requires the reliability of smart devices, such as the webcams or parental supervision solutions.
As more houses and workplaces adopt smart cameras and monitoring tools, the line between convenience and burglary becomes thinner.
If prohibited become more usual, suppliers may have to prove more than just the strength to remain competitive.
Whether you select a home monitoring system or the Dear Antivirus Software, the politics of hardware and software become more difficult to ignore.
By Economic
Maybe you like it too
- Advertisement -