CCTV cameras at Hong Kong malls to be linked to police surveillance network, says security chief

The police are linking CCTV cameras at malls across the city to its AI-enabled SmartView surveillance system, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told TVB on Sunday.

A CCTV camera in Mong Kok. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Without naming the malls involved, Tang said the police force was in the final stages of discussion with private shopping centres, with an aim of bringing 60,000 cameras into the integrated police system by 2028.

“[W]e see that in some places without CCTV, members of the public do not want to visit because they are dangerous and people fear becoming victims of crime,” Tang said in Cantonese.

See also: Hong Kong police may add facial recognition to CCTV cameras this year as part of HK$4 billion expansion plan

He added that whether police will have access to a 24-hour live feed, or just the ability to download data, would depend on the location’s crime risk. At crime hotspots, “real-time monitoring might be needed,” Tang said.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang meets the press on September 27, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

SmartView is a government initiative to install CCTV cameras across Hong Kong’s “public places with high crime rate and pedestrian flow,” according to a 2026 legislative paper.

Tang said on Sunday that it may not be necessary to inform the public about new cameras being linked to the police network since many malls already displayed signs warning of recording.

See also: New police plan to expand AI-enabled CCTV blanket to public housing estates raises questions over privacy

Last October, it was announced that the police camera network had been rolled out at public housing estates.

CCTV expansion, with facial recognition

As part of SmartView’s second phase rollout between 2026 and 2028, the government plans to add 20,000 surveillance cameras per year, including setting up new ones and connecting private cameras and those from different government departments to the police’s network.

The police SmartView CCTV system. Photo: GovHK.

Authorities aim to add 6,500 surveillance cameras from 2028 to 2031 as part of SmartView’s third phase.

In February, Commissioner of Police Joe Chow said authorities planned to incorporate facial recognition functions into CCTV cameras managed by the police “within this year.”

Last October, Police Operations Wing Senior Superintendent Leung Ming-leung said that, so far, the surveillance system had aided in detecting more than 480 criminal cases and had led to the arrests of over 840 individuals. It has also been used for crowd control and to assist authorities during typhoons.