Hong Kong is set to significantly enhance its surveillance capabilities by deploying tens of thousands of AI-powered cameras equipped with facial recognition technology, announced the city’s security chief, Chris Tang, on Friday. This move aligns the financial hub more closely with mainland China, where advanced surveillance systems are widely used in public spaces. Under the SmartView program, Hong Kong has already installed nearly 4,000 CCTV cameras, with plans to expand this number to 60,000 by 2028, according to legislative documents. The AI technology will be utilized for crowd monitoring, license plate recognition, and tracking criminal suspects. Tang emphasized the necessity of this initiative for national security and crime prevention, citing the program’s success in solving over 400 cases and making 787 arrests since its launch last year. Real-time facial recognition is expected to be implemented by the end of this year. However, concerns have been raised about privacy invasion, false matches leading to wrongful arrests, and the lack of independent oversight. The European Union has already banned real-time biometric identification in public spaces, except under specific circumstances. Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has not commented on its involvement in the program’s expansion. Critics, including Eric Lai of Georgetown Centre for Asian Law, argue that the current legal framework may be insufficient to prevent potential abuses of power in AI deployment.