CloudWalk facial recognition deployed in Zimbabwe
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| In 2018, it was announced that a mass facial recognition system would be deployed by CloudWalk in Zimbabwe. This forms part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. CloudWalk stated they would be providing a full suite of surveillance technology tools across sectors. CloudWalk is a Chinese company which supplies cloud policing tools in China. The primary element of this deployment is the use of facial recognition from CloudWalk to develop a large dataset. CloudWalk's later iterations of recognition can identify gait and hairstyles. Another element of the deployment identified by reporters is the utility of training the datatset on darker skin tones for CloudWalk. A final element identified by civil society is the use of the surveillance technologies to identify dissenters and influence elections. A biometric voter roll is being prepared from the database. Huawei has also been linked to the deployment of smart city technologies upon which the facial recognition systems are to run, with Hikvision cameras, for the purposes of this surveillance system. They have at certain points denied this linkage. TelOne, the Zimbabwe telecommunications company, has also been linked to the deployment of facial recognition around the country for this effort. |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | CloudWalk (Facial recognition) |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | CloudWalk |
| Datasets | CloudWalk (FR Datset) Unknown Dataset 0187 |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (2 March 2018, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | Zimbabwe Defence Forces |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Government of Zimbabwe TelOne |
| Used by | Zimbabwe Republic Police |
Location:
| City | Harare |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | Zimbabwe |
Description[ ]
In 2018, Zimbabwe began installing CloudWalk surveillance technologies in major cities. CloudWalk was selected. The deal is part of China's Belt and Road initiative. Zimbabwe and China have development and foreign policy relations 5
In March, the Zimbabwean government signed a strategic partnership with the Gunagzhou-based startup CloudWalk Technology to begin a large-scale facial recognition program throughout the country. The agreement, backed by the Chinese government’s Belt and Road initiative, will see the technology primarily used in security and law enforcement and will likely be expanded to other public programs. “The Zimbabwean government did not come to Guangzhou purely for AI or facial ID technology, rather it had a comprehensive package plan for such areas as infrastructure, technology and biology,” CloudWalk CEO Yao Zhiqiang told China’s Global Times 2
The system has been termed mass facial recognition system. One element of the deployment has been the expansion of CloudWalks dataset to include darker skin tones and the ability to identify different races 5
Cloudwalk technology was launched in February this year which means Zimbabwe is one of the first countries to adopt this kind of technology. The technology has been described as 3D light facial technology. It’s been touted as a better service than 2D facial recognition. 2D facial recognition was not reliable because it could not easily recognize darker skin shades which limited it’s functionality 1
It is feared that the technology will be used to influence elections and suppress political dissent 4 6 3
In 2018, Zimbabwe entered into a strategic cooperation partnership with Chinese start up CloudWalk Technology, under which the government would gain access to a facial recognition database that it could use for all kinds of purposes. These uses would range from easier policing under the Smart cities initiative to tracking down political dissidents among others. In return, China gains access to this database of Zimbabwean citizens in order to train its algorithms and improve the ability of its surveillance systems to recognize darker skinned tones. The agreement is being implemented in stages and will soon reach development of camera and network infrastructure in Zimbabwe. AI driven facial recognition software has historically had difficulties with recognizing such skin tones and with this harvesting of Zimbabweans’ personal data, China will gain a globally competitive edge in the AI market 6
References
- a b "Mnangagwa's Govt Getting Facial Recognition Tech From China". (2018) <https://www.techzim.co.zw/2018/04/mnangagwas-govt-getting-facial-recognition-tech-from-china/> Accessed: 2022-12-18
- a b "China is exporting facial recognition software to Africa, expanding its vast database". (2018) <https://qz.com/africa/1287675/china-is-exporting-facial-recognition-to-africa-ensuring-ai-dominance-through-diversity/> Accessed: 2022-12-18
- a b Swart, Heidi and Munoriyarwa, Allen. Video Surveillance in Southern Africa: Case studies of security camera systems in the region. , 2020.
- a b "CloudWalk has Zimbabwean’s face biometrics, but trust in voter roll still lacking". (2022) <https://www.biometricupdate.com/202206/cloudwalk-has-zimbabweans-face-biometrics-but-trust-in-voter-roll-still-lacking> Accessed: 2022-12-18
- a b c "Beijing’s Big Brother Tech Needs African Faces". (2018) <https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/24/beijings-big-brother-tech-needs-african-faces/> Accessed: 2022-12-18
- a b "How Artificial Intelligence could influence Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections". (2022) <https://globalvoices.org/2022/06/13/how-artificial-intelligence-could-influence-zimbabwes-2023-elections/>