Nationwide network of biometric ready cameras in South Africa

Nationwide network of biometric ready cameras in South Africa
Excluded from graph
Deployment Status	Planned
Deployment Start Date
Deployment End Date
Events	* uses Record type Property:Has event Start (2 January 2019, Speculative, , No description)
City	Johannesburg
Country	South Africa
Involved Entities	Milestone
Keywords
Technology Deployed	Milestone XProtect VMS, Unknown Products 0043
Information Certainty	Speculative
Primary sources	1, 2
Datasets Used	Unknown Dataset 0085
Deployment Type	Analytics, Biometric Cameras, Criminal investigations
runs search software
managed by	Vumacam
used by	Vumacam, Unknown_Institution_0063
Potentially used by
Information Certainty	0
Summary	0

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Information Certainty: Speculative

Deployment Purpose: Surveillance

Summary
0

• Details

Products and Institutions:

Product Deployed	Milestone XProtect VMS Unknown Products 0043
Institutions ⠉	Milestone
Datasets	Unknown Dataset 0085
Search software

Status and Events:

Status	Planned
Events	Start (2 January 2019, Speculative, , No description)
Start Date
End Date

Users:

Involved Entities	Milestone
Managed by	Vumacam
Used by	Vumacam Unknown Institution 0063

Location:

City	Johannesburg Pretoria Krugersdorp Soweto Kempton Park
Country ⠉	South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa

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Description

The effect has been the rapid creation of a centralized, coordinated, entirely privatized mass surveillance operation. Vumacam, the company building the nationwide CCTV network, already has over 6,600 cameras and counting, more than 5,000 of which are concentrated in Joburg. The video footage it takes feeds into security rooms around the country, which then use all manner of AI tools like license plate recognition to track population movement and trace individuals. 2

The company sells access to its cameras and analytics. Buyers include businesses, homeowner associations, private security forces and the police themselves. 1

CENTRALISED TECHNOLOGY Security professionals monitor footage, integrate analytics and use ANPR from industry leading software Milestone. 3

The technology used in Xinjiang’s surveillance network has made its way to the streets of Joburg’s most affluent suburbs. In 2019, local company Vumacam is busy installing 15,000 high-definition surveillance cameras throughout Johannesburg to prevent crime. Vumacam’s camera supplier, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, is also a major supplier to the Chinese government in Xinjiang. 4

Asked about that speculation, Vumacam says it doesn’t use facial recognition and will not consider using it until the technology is adequately regulated. “We don’t believe that facial recognition technology as it stands (from any provider) is reliable enough for ethical use,” says Vumacam's CEO Ricky Croock. [[CiteRef:: haoSouthAfricaPrivate2022