Leaked documents obtained by the Financial Times show that state-owned Chinese tech companies are drafting proposals that shape global facial recognition standards.
According to the documents, China Telecom, Dahua, and ZTE are proposing new international standards that influence the United Nation’s (UN’s) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standards for facial recognition, video monitoring, city, and vehicle surveillance.
These ITU standards are increasingly being authored by companies rather than government officials. Once drafted, these standards are highly influential on the global rules for using and developing facial recognition, particularly in developing countries.
According to Richard Wingfield, the Head of Legal at the human rights group Global Partners Digital: “African states tend to go along with what is being put forward by China and the ITU as they don’t have the resources to develop standards themselves.”
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