Silicon Valley Companies Negotiate With China For Massive Surveillance Project
SAN JOSE (KCBS)— China wants to build a massive surveillance network across the city of Chongqing with as many as 500,000 cameras and two Silicon Valley tech companies are in the running to help supply the project. Government officials said the cameras will be used to prevent "crime." However, human rights advocates counter that they'll be used to watch over and crush political dissent.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
According to the Wall Street Journal, both Cisco and Hewlett Packard are both bidding on the project.
KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid said it sounds like a "pretty good deal," from a purely business perspective.
"It means not only more money coming in to Silicon Valley and the United States, but there's a cost; whether they are participating in repressive activities by the Chinese government.
Officials at San Jose-based Cisco declined to discuss their involvement with the project, whereas HP is quoted in the Journal as having said, "We take them at their word as to the usage of the technology."
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