Cameras from US black list monitor Kosovo government

It's about the cameras from the Chinese companies Dahua and HikVision. These cameras, according to pictures he provided. REL in January 2022 is also located in the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Ministry of Health.

Pristina's main sell-off: “Skenderbeu”, “Mother Teresa” and “Zahir Pajaziti” are also monitored by cameras produced by HikVision Company.

Free Europe Radio has managed to see that Dahua-type security cameras are also located at the bus station in Pristina.

According to the American Department of Commerce, Dahua Technology and HikVision are on the US blacklist since 2019, reportedly their connection to human rights violations in China, respectively, with Beijing's protest of Muslim figures in the province of Ksinjiang.

In June 2021, the administration of the U.S. President Joe Biden has expanded the ban on these companies by giving them Stopped American investments in them.

The cameras of these companies appear to circulate freely on the Kosovo market and to be used by public institutions.

In December 2021, Radio Free Europe Has Report that Serbia, through institutions it has in Kosovo, has purchased the video-oversage system of the Chinese company Dahua, dedicated to schools in 12 Kosovo municipalities.

As shown by the documentation, these cameras also have a facial recognition option.

Government silents over suspicious cameras

The Kosovo Government target is located in the centre of Pristina and includes the capital's main squares.

Some cameras outside the facility are directed into his yard, while other cameras monitor Mother Teresa Square, where citizens pass freely.

The cameras clearly write the names of the insides of HikVision and Dahua.

Radio Free Europe has submitted requests for access to public information regarding the types of cameras placed in central institutions.

The Kosovo government has not answered REL questions on this issue, nor has the State Chief Prosecutor's Office.

The Defense Ministry has rejected REL's request for access to information about the type of cameras installed, as well as the contract for these cameras.

In response to this ministry, the “this document enters the category of classified data”.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration has under administration the facility where some Kosovo ministries are located and it has not returned answers to the type of cameras installed in this facility, known as the former Renaissance.

The Ministry of Health has not responded, while the Ministry of Culture has said that cameras installed at this institution have not been active since 2014.

From the Ministry of Industry, Undertaking and Trade have confirmed that the type of security cameras in this facility is HikVision.

According to this ministry, <x0v camera trading was carried out by the end of 2020, when” was installed.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development has said there are no contracts linked to any economic operators for the purchase of security cameras.

The “Object, in which the MBPZR staff is located, is the rented space since 2019, and security cameras have been located in these areas from the company [which is the owner of this facility] before the MBPZHR-ja” moved, the ministry's response reported.

From the Kosovo Assembly, in which the Kosovo Presidency is located, have said that cameras installed there are German in place, Bosch.

From the Pristina municipality, meanwhile, they have told Radio Free Europe that for installing cameras in city squares, the tendering procedure was held in 2019 and that the contract was signed in 2020.

The winner of this contract has been the security system company Professional Alarm, headquartered in Pristina.

The municipality has not commented on the fact that cameras are of the HikVision brand and said the new municipal government has inherited the contract that is being implemented.

“Communa, by law, prepares technical specifics for tendering procedures, where the appointment of product producers is not allowed. So, the Pristina municipality, its new governance, respectively, has inherited this contract, which is being implemented”, says the municipality's response.

The announcement of the contract signing for the purchase of these cameras between the Pristina municipality and the Professional Alarm Company has been released on 13 May, 2020.

This contract is worth 78,299 euros, while the technical sets for cameras mention the request for “smart camera” and “camera for automatic recognition of license plates”.

A representative of the Professional Alarm Company, who sells HikVision brand cameras, says such cameras have sold many institutions in Kosovo.

There are no stops, these are forbidden by America in its security institutions, not as a product for America. It is not banned in Kosovo”, says the company's representative under anonymity conditions.

Selim Mustafa, owner of the Profiti Group company, which is representative of the Dahua company in Kosovo, says she does not view the sale of such cameras as problematic, as they, according to him, are not banned in Kosovo.

He adds that the Government of Kosovo should also take into account the sustainability of businesses if in the future it decides to stop using these cameras.

We have stock, we have jobs that we built, we have 15-20 workers. According to my logic, earlier it should be planned, cautioned, etc.... that they [stop decisions] create huge losses”, Mustafa says.

According to him, not all cameras produced by the Dahua have a facial recognition option.

The random “and the daily does not relate to facial recognition. There are separate cameras, more specific [them for facial recognition]”, he says.

Why are cameras restricted with facial recognition option?

The use of security cameras and video surveillance systems should be done carefully, according to the Agency for Information and Private in Kosovo.

From this agency they say that “biometric data processing [including facial recognition] for purposes of identifying a physical person in a unique way is basically prohibited”.

The “is allowed only in specific cases, after the legal conditions” are met, the agency's statement for Radio Free Europe says.

She says she doesn't have any information about what kind of cameras the state institutions “have set up.

According to the agency, establishing the video surveillance system is only allowed if it is deemed necessary for people's security, providing for property and preserving confidential information, and if that goal cannot be achieved by easier means.

So if it can be achieved by other means, video surveillance can also be restricted in certain cases.

Cyber security and privacy expert Mentor Hoxhaj says that fixing the deployment of surveillance systems in public and private spaces in Kosovo “to want”.

The face recognition system cannot be used by public and private institutions. It can only be used in separate cases”, Hoxhaj says of Radio Free Europe.

China and Observation Problems

With US sanctions, Chinese companies Dahua Technology and HikVision are forbidden to do business with American companies.

“These entities are involved in human rights violations and abuses, in the Chinese depression campaign, massive arbitrary ban and surveillance through high-tech glass, Kazakhs and other members of Muslim minority groups in Ksinjiang”, the US Department of Commerce said in October 2019, Bloomberg broadcast.

According to expert Mentor Hoxhaj, informative technologies from China also conflict with the possibility of data manipulation.

The information technology equipment, originally from China, has already proved that most of these devices have stock door [back door]. So all the data they get and process, they send to the manufacturer”, Hoxhaj says.

On this subject, REL has already received the US State Department comment:

“The US is working with allies and partners in the initiative to draft principles for responsible use of government surveillance technology, in line with our common democratic values and respect for human rights”.

According to the US State Department, the US “remains committed to promoting respect for the human rights of minority group members”.