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[ ]
Uncertain information: Involved Entities
- Involved Entities: Huawei, Hikvision (Information Certainty: Rumoured,Description: Many link Huawei with the contracts but Huawei themselves deny the linkage)
- Citation keyThis property is a special property in this wiki.: swartVideoSurveillanceSouthern2020
In 2018, Zimbabwe began installing CloudWalk surveillance technologies in major cities. CloudWalk, a Chinese company, was selected. The deal is part of China's Belt and Road initiative. CloudWalk supply facial recognition and cloud based policing tools in China. Zimbabwe and China have development and foreign policy relations 5. The system has been described as an element of the active military driven surveillance in the country 7 . It is also feared that the technology will be used to influence upcoming elections and suppress political dissent 3 8. A biometric voter roll for Zimbabwe is also being prepared from the CloudWalk database 4.
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
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 8
It has been reported that Huawei will be responsible for the deployment of Hikvision cameras in some cities. Huawei deny the linkages.
In the most recent development in March 2020, it was reported that Huawei had allegedly already received US$20 million to start the installation of a grid of public surveillance cameras, as part of a larger Smart City Project (presumably in the capital of Harare) with a budget of US$100 over the next five years. It was further alleged that Hikvision and CloudWalk Technology would supply facial recognition software for the project. Huawei has denied the reports 3
Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecoms giant helping to build the backbone infrastructure for the surveillance system, which will also support the Chinese-built Parliament currently under construction in the proposed new capital city in Mount Hampden, was last month granted income tax exemption curiously backdated to December 30, 2009. Huawei last year completed a US$98 million fibre optic project for state-owned TelOne linking Harare and Bulawayo, the country’s two major cities, with South Africa. The project was funded by the China Exim Bank, which is currently bankrolling a network expansion project also being undertaken by Huawei for mobile telecommunications network, NetOne. The US$140 million, six-storey Parliament is being funded wholly by the Chinese government as a donation to Zimbabwe 9
TelOne has been linked with deploying face recognition in some areas of the country. It is unclear if neo face here refers to NEC NeoFace.
State-owned telecoms firm TelOne is planning to launch a neo face recognition technology early next year at the country’s airports and traffic lights to reduce crime and to promote the smart cities intelligence, which uses data and technology to create efficiencies 6
TelOne is implementing Data Centers across the country having presence in Harare, Mazowe, and Bulawayo while in the process of planning to roll out in other towns including Mutare 6
References
- ^ x
- a b "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
- ^ Munoriyarwa, Allen. The militarization of digital surveillance in post-coup Zimbabwe: ‘Just don’t tell them what we do’. , 2022.
- a b Swart, Heidi and Munoriyarwa, Allen. Video Surveillance in Southern Africa: Case studies of security camera systems in the region. , 2020.
- 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/>
- ^ "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
- ^ "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
- ^ "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
- ^ "Creating a surveillance state: ED govt zooms in for critics with Chinese help". (2020) <https://www.newsday.co.zw/thestandard/news/article/172851/creating-a-surveillance-state-ed-govt-zooms-in-for-critics-with-chinese-help> Accessed: 2022-12-18
- a b "TelOne to launch neo-face recognition technology". (2018) <https://businesstimes.co.zw/telone-to-launch-neo-face-recognition-technology/>