By. Dr. Clara H. Suong
Many authoritarian governments, such as those in Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, now have the capability to surveil their own citizens with technical tools. Many of them were enabled by Chinese technology companies, such as Huawei, Hikvision, Dahua and ZTE, as well as U.S. and Israeli companies that have exported artificial intelligence surveillance technology to these countries (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/technology/ecuador-surveillance-cameras-police-government.html). This blog discusses some background information and the ethical and political concerns raised by this issue.
1. What is AI surveillance technology?
AI surveillance technology refers to an integrated system that “makes machines intelligent” by
automating behavior for surveillance. A tool used in this technology often “incorporates information acquisition objectives, logical reasoning principles, and self-correction capacities” (Feldstein 2019, 5; https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847 ). The key technology used in an AI surveillance system is machine learning. Machine learning is “a statistical process that analyzes a large amount of information in order to discern a pattern to explain the current data and predict future uses” (Feldstein 2019, 5).
2. Global Spread of AI Surveillance Technology
AI surveillance technology is spreading quickly to a wider range of countries. As of 2019, at least 75 out of the 176 countries surveyed were actively using AI technologies for surveillance purposes (Feldstein 2019; https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847). 56 countries have adopted smart city/safe city platforms, 64 countries facial recognition systems, and 52 countries smart policing, according to this research.
Governments in both democratic and non-democratic countries in all regions have adopted and abused AI surveillance. While authoritarian, non-democratic countries are racing to adopt advanced analytic systems and facial recognition cameras, democratic countries in Europe have also been actively procuring and installing automated border controls, predictive policing, safe cities, and facial recognition systems.
Chinese technology companies, in particular Huawei, have been major exporters of AI surveillance technology. However, U.S. companies are also leading exporters. In particular, IBM, Palantir, Cisco, and Oracle have been prominent in this area. Other companies based in democracies, such as France, Germany, Israel, Japan, have been active as well.
3. Types of AI Surveillance
There are 3 major tools in state-sponsored AI surveillance–smart city/safe city platforms, facial recognition systems, and smart policing.
“Smart” city (or safe city) platforms are “advanced analytic systems to facilitate improved service delivery and city management” (Feldstein 2019, 17; https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847). They feature “an array of sensors that gather information in real time from thousands of interconnected devices” (Feldstein 2019, 17). They are designed to help local authorities “manage traffic congestion, direct emergency vehicles to needed locations, foster sustainable energy use, and streamline administrative processes” (Feldstein 2019, 17). There are concerns that these platforms render more opportunities for public surveillance by governments.
Facial recognition systems are systems that use cameras–both video or still images–to detect individuals appearing in those images with images from a database. Experts are concerned about this technology because it “scan distinctive facial features in order to create detailed biometric maps of individuals without obtaining consent” (Feldstein 2019, 18; https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847).
Many governments have also adopted technology for “smart” policing. These tools are adopted for effective law enforcement by the police. These tools “feed immense quantities of data into an algorithm–geographic location, historic arrest levels, types of committed crimes, biometric data, social media feeds–in order to prevent crime, respond to criminal acts, or even to make predictions about future criminal activity” (Feldstein 2019, 19). There are concerns that this technology would enable an increase in public surveillance and biased policing.
4. Legitimate vs. Unlawful AI-Based Surveillance
Surveillance of citizens by governments is not always illegal. State surveillance can be a necessary evil. For example, surveillance tools can be key to preventing terrorism and protecting citizens. They can help governments track down terrorists and deter their attacks on citizens.
However, AI-based surveillance by governments can be different from, and potentially much more dangerous than, traditional surveillance. AI-based surveillance makes surveillance easy and cheap for governments. The technology allows governments to automate many tracking and monitoring functions. It makes it easy and cheap for governments to scale their operations and to make them more accurate. Thanks to the technology, governments are less reliant on human operatives, who can be disloyal, uncompliant, fatigued, or prone to making mistakes. The technology frees the governments from being beholden to human mistakes.
Consequently, AI-based surveillance can “cast a much wider surveillance net” than traditional surveillance by governments. The technology enables governments to utilize and analyze the massive communications data. This results in major breaches of individuals’ privacy, which can be extremely invasive. With data aggregated and combined from multiple sources, it is easy for governments to identify individuals, learn about their private lives, monitor them, and track them down.
5. Democracy
U.S. firms’ embroilment in the politics of their hosting countries is not new. For example, the United Fruit Company was notorious for its corrosive and coercive influence on Latin American countries where the firm grew bananas. Recently, U.S. tech companies have been accused of sustaining and “propping up” authoritarian regimes abroad. It is very likely that U.S. tech companies’ exports of surveillance technology is sustaining authoritarian governments’ unethical surveillance regime. It is especially problematic that the technology has been politically used by governments–to repress citizens and political opponents.
6. Free Trade, National Interest, and Global Governance Free trade is a government’s trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It means that imports and exports of goods and services are made by free will of individual economic actors, not governments. It is a trade policy in which the laws of supply and demand for imports and exports dictate, free from any intervention by governments. In contrast, protectionism is a trade policy that restricts trade with other countries in order to protect domestic firms. Free trade usually results in more trade and lower prices for consumers across the globe. Protectionism, on the other hand, can distort the market and result in less trade and higher prices for consumer.
However, the U.S. government is obligated to promote the interests of U.S. businesses abroad and help them do business abroad. Accordingly, one of the key diplomatic missions of the U.S. government is to help U.S. firms compete on the global stage by promoting exports by U.S. firms and attracting foreign buyers of U.S. goods and services and foreign investors. At the same time, the U.S. government has been imposing export controls on security-related technology. The U.S. government has been extremely concerned about the transfer of key technology from domestic firms to foreign entities, which may harm U.S. security interests.
In contrast, global governance refers to the international community’s efforts resolve the issues that affect more than one country with international cooperation. The goal of global governance implies that trade and markets should be judiciously, fairly, and responsibly regulated via cooperation among countries.