Australia has uncovered a state-owned Chinese CCTV company using a Uyghur identifying filter

An Australian security expert has severed ties with a Chinese company following the discovery of a ‘race filter’ used to identify at-risk minorities.

A leading Australian security expert has severed ties with a state-owned Chinese CCTV company, accused of providing a ‘race filter’ in its software that identifies ethnic Uyghurs.

CEO and founder of home and commercial security provider Calamity Monitoring, Daniel Lewkovitz said he discovered the software function when using Dahua’s Smart PSS on his computer while searching footage to assist the NSW Police in a criminal matter.

He said he was “appalled” when he allegedly came across the identification technology that can send a warning when a ‘yellow’ person is viewed by facial recognition software.

“As soon as I became aware of the function I issued instructions to my senior management to move away from using this vendor,” he said, as he urged others to follow suit.

“There is no legitimate justification for it. There is no upside to it. There are no excuses for having a trigger alert based on races. We looked at the code and it literally said ‘yellow’.”

It is understood the yellow alert was designated to identifying Uyghurs.

Daniel Lewkovitz, chief executive of Calamity Monitoring. Picture: Adam Taylor

Mr Lewkovitz, who was involved with security for the Israeli team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, said his principled stand was costing him money and clients because he was no longer using the cheap hardware.

“It’s costing us revenue but that’s besides the point,” he said.

“We’re doing this because of what is at stake and would urge other companies who might claim to defer to their values, but who are engaging this software to do likewise. This a Chinese state-owned CCTV manufacturer. Nobody can support this type of behaviour.”

Dahua is one of several Chinese companies sanctioned by the US Government amid allegations of human rights abuses but it has a growing presence in Australia.

The news of the CCTV company was shared on Twitter. Picture: Twitter

Screenshots of code from Dahua platforms found by video surveillance company IPVM, posted on social media and in US media reportedly reveal client or end user facing software SmartPSS has ‘race’ as a face recognition category.

Last month Amazon faced fierce scrutiny after purchasing 1500 thermal cameras from Dahua to monitor the health of workers during the pandemic, in a deal worth US$10 million.

According to a report from the BBC last month, more than a million Uyghurs have been detained in interment camps in the Xinjiang region, amid allegations of organised system of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in January: “I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state”.

China dismissed those allegations as “outright lies”.

Dahua was contacted for comment but didn’t reply prior to publication deadline.

In a statement to the South China Morning Post last month, Dahua said that it “does not sell products that feature [an] ethnicity-focused recognition function.”