Since the start of 2025, the Hong Kong Police Force has installed over 4,500 AI-powered CCTV cameras across the city under the SmartView Initiative. The police claim that the main goal of implementing this surveillance system is to “aid crime prevention and detection”. In a press release published on October 16, the force announced that they will gradually expand SmartView’s coverage to locations such as public housing estates, traffic lights, and cross-harbour tunnels, while connecting existing CCTV cameras to the system.
Naturally, there are mixed feelings towards the police’s decision to expand its surveillance coverage across the city. Instead of immediately dreading the emergence of a Big Brother state, let’s take a look at what SmartView is able to record, what the footage is used for, and what this means for public interests and privacy.
What does the Hong Kong police use SmartView for?
In the same press release, the Hong Kong police states that their AI-driven SmartView surveillance system has been instrumental in aiding their crime prevention and detection efforts, demonstrating “remarkable effectiveness” in “assisting the force in detecting more than 480 criminal cases and leading to the arrests of more than 840 individuals.”
Beyond crime, the police have also found SmartView an effective monitoring tool “during typhoons and extreme weather conditions”. In particular, surveillance footage from SmartView cameras proved useful in “monitoring flooding conditions in the city” as well as aiding rescue and recovery efforts after Typhoon Ragasa.
To date, SmartView’s integrated people-counting technology has proven useful for crowd control at large-scale events such as the National Day fireworks display. Meanwhile, cameras installed at public housing estates will continue to record goings-on at “lobbies, entrances, lifts, retail areas, and car parks”, with the footage “used for security and property management purposes”, as a Housing Authority spokesperson stated to Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP).
Upcoming plans for expansion
Currently, 4,000 CCTV cameras connected to SmartView are “installed on lampposts, smart lampposts, and government buildings”, with mobile cameras mounted on police vehicles. The force states that it plans to expand SmartView’s “installation platforms”, starting with “the first traffic light-mounted camera before the end of this year” – so no more sneaky jaywalking, folks.
In addition to new cameras, the police also plans to “integrate CCTV cameras installed by other government departments and public organisations” by the end of 2025, and shopping malls by 2026, bulking up the 5,000 that are currently connected to SmartView.
What does this mean for public interests and privacy?
With SmartView gradually being integrated into living spaces at public housing estates, there is general concern over the police’s infringement on personal privacy. As expected, there are countless reassurances from government personnel, as a police spokesperson states to HKFP that “the SmartView expansion [will comply] with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance”, and the police “will ensure personal interests of the public are safeguarded.”
As for how long the public’s faces will potentially remain on the authorities’ recording system, a Housing Authority spokesperson states to HKFP that “footage is retained for no more than 28 days and is handled by management personnel according to privacy laws”, while footage “used for investigation or evidence will be retained until the relevant investigation or prosecution proceedings are completed”.
At least for now, the police’s implementation and use of SmartView is legal. Only time will tell whether their promises to safeguard public interests and personal privacy will ring true.
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