/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fcfef0de1a692d0d7afa0fe/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=6240&cropY1=244&cropY2=3754&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Huawei Tested Facial Recognition System That Identifies Uighurs, Report Claims")
Topline
Chinese tech giant Huawei helped test a facial recognition system that identifies Uighurs, according to a document found by Pennsylvania-based research group IPVM, offering the clearest evidence yet of the company’s ties to Chinese government surveillance of the ethnic minority group.
Tibetan and Uyghur gather for a protest against China as part of the 71st anniversary of the … [+]
Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
Key Facts
According to the document, Huawei tested a “Uighur alert” system using its video cloud infrastructure for Chinese artificial intelligence firm Megvii.
The Huawei report from 2018 notes that Megvii’s software “passed” and was able to determine “ethnicity” as part of its “face attribute analysis,” according to IPVM.
The document was marked “confidential” and was publicly available on Huawei’s website, but was taken down immediately after the Washington Post, which first reported on the document, and IPVM asked the company for comment.
Human rights groups say Chinese authorities use a massive public surveillance network to track Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups and detain them in “reeducation camps” that aim to supress Islamic culture in the country. (China insists the centers are voluntary and exist to combat extremism).
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes, but told IPVM the report was “simply a test and it has not seen real-world application. Huawei only supplies general-purpose products for this kind of testing. We do not provide custom algorithms or applications.”
Megvii did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told IVPM, “Our solutions are not designed or customized to target or label ethnic groups. Our business is focused on the well-being and safety of individuals, not about monitoring any particular demographic groups.”
Key Background
The U.S. government already blacklisted Megvii last year, claiming it and several other Chinese tech companies aid the Chinese government in spying on Uighurs. As for Huawei, the Federal Communications Commission declared the company a national security threat in June, arguing its equipment could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans. The actions are part of the Trump Administration’s goal to purge Chinese tech companies from U.S. internet and telecommunications infrastructure and combat China’s influence as a world superpower. The U.K., too, also banned Huawei equipment from 5G networks in July over similar concerns.
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