Previously, The Times reported that Hikvision facial recognition cameras are used to distinguish entire ethnic minority populations, placing Tibetans and Uighurs at serious risk.

A freedom of information by the party request found that Hikvision cameras are used in the following councils: Angus, Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Moray, North Lanarkshire, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland and South Lanarkshire.

The FOI also revealed that almost none of these councils plan to remove the Hikvision cameras, nor have any of them assessed the suitability of the cameras under human rights guidance. Only Edinburgh declared that it intended to remove the cameras and would do so by the end of 2022.

In July 2021, the UK’s Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee report was clear that no company with ties to human rights abuses should receive government contracts, specifically citing Hikvision as an example of such a company, while a group of 67 MPs and Lords recently called on the UK government to ban the sale and use of Hikvision and Dahua surveillance equipment in the UK.

Despite the findings of the committee, the FOI highlighted that cameras were installed in South Lanarkshire, Argyll & Bute, Falkirk, Shetland and Glasgow after the committee’s report.

Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, Alex Cole-Hamilton, said: “It’s extremely disappointing that not only are at least a dozen councils using these cameras but they have carried on installing them after the foreign affairs committee connected Hikvision to human rights abuses.

“There have been numerous warnings that Hikvision were providing surveillance tools for the Chinese government. The Scottish and UK governments need to come off the fence and introduce more robust rules about partnering with Chinese firms.

“It’s clear that the time has come for a ban on the sale and use of this equipment. Having an ongoing financial relationship with firms like this is really beyond the pale.

“The Scottish government need to atone for these massive moral and ethical failings. They should provide councils and government agencies with the support they need to uninstall the cameras with the utmost urgency.”