Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, has announced that it will remove Chinese-made surveillance cameras from its stores due to concerns over ethical and security risks, following an appeal from human rights campaign groups. The groups, including Stop Uyghur Genocide, Free Tibet, Big Brother Watch, and Hong Kong Watch, had called on Tesco to remove cameras made by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, whom they accused of being involved in serious human rights abuses and security issues. Tesco CEO Jason Tarry responded that the company is committed to ethical sourcing and human rights and that it will move to alternative suppliers, although the transition will take time given the size and complexity of the business. Hikvision and Dahua were blacklisted by the US Commerce Department in 2019 for their involvement in enabling human rights abuses against Uyghur and Kazakh minorities in China’s Xinjiang region. The UK’s Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner also expressed concerns over Hikvision and Dahua’s usage in UK stores, citing security implications and human rights risks.
Tesco ceases use of Chinese surveillance cameras due to security and human rights worries.
