Letter from the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 30 May 2022 (accessible)
Updated 31 May 2022
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Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Copied to: Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
By e-mail to:
michael.gove.mp@parliament.uk
pssajidjavid@dhsc.gov.uk
30 May 2022
Dear Secretary of State,
Human Rights and Security Issues in Public Procurement of Surveillance Technology
I am writing to you again as I do not appear to have received a response to my original letter dated 22 April 2022 regarding Human Rights and Security Issues in Public Procurement of Surveillance Technology.
As I outlined in my original correspondence, I am deeply concerned about the clear ethical and human rights issues involved in public procurement of surveillance technology from companies associated with atrocities in China. I have also been increasingly concerned about the security risks presented by some state-controlled surveillance systems covering our public spaces, and hence the need for this to be addressed by our local authorities and indeed, the wider Government. You may also have seen the BBC’s report on 24 May about the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in Xinjiang (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/85qihtvw6e/the-faces-from-chinas-uyghur-detention-camps) which gives further insight into the conditions in those camps.
In the interests of transparency, I will be publishing this letter on my website alongside my previous correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Fraser Sampson
Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner