Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday wrote to electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav for an immediate ban on the use of Chinese CCTVs in India citing likely security concerns and transfer of data similar to the ban on Chinese apps in 2020. CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that in the absence of any data protection Law or any other competent law or any monitoring mechanism, the data or information acquired by such CCTV systems can be easily transferred anywhere in the globe.
“It is to be noted that Internet Protocol (IP) cameras are used in CCTV networks and internet-operated Digital Video Recording (DVR) of the CCTV systems can be compromised at any given point of time,” they said in a statement.
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CAIT added that a large number of Chinese-origin CCTV cameras are believed to be used in India which are either controlled or partially owned by the Chinese government. “Moreover, Chinese laws make it obligatory for everyone in China to help the government by sharing giving data/information, whenever demanded. It is also noteworthy to mention that already countries like the US, Australia and the UK have banned the usage of Chinese CCTV in areas sensitive to national security,” Bhartia and Khandelwal added.
Importantly, the US and UK had last year moved to ban the CCTVs by China-based companies Hikvision and Dahua over fears of intelligence shared with China through these surveillance cameras and compromising their national security.
The traders’ body called for a Data Protection Law to ensure the protection of data of the country while a comprehensive policy may also be formulated to encourage the manufacturing of CCTVs in India under Made in India vision. It also urged for a support policy to augment the manufacturing capacity of existing manufacturers of CCTVs in India.
Importantly, in a statement in the Lok Sabha back in March 2021, the former Minister of State for Communications and IT Sanjay Dhotre had said that as per industry estimates, around 10 lakh CCTV cameras from Chinese companies were installed in government institutions in India. The country had already banned around 250 Chinese apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order.