Irakli Kupradze, Secretary General of Lelo – Strong Georgia, has commented on an investigation by the organization AlgorithmWatch, according to which, over the past two years, the Georgian government purchased facial recognition cameras from a Moscow-based company with ties to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the opposition politician, this indicates that the authorities have “handed over the country’s security and the fate of its citizens into the hands of the FSB.”
“We are talking about a Russian software system capable of tracking the movement of citizens. This system can identify Georgian residents on the streets of Tbilisi even when their faces are partially covered. The authorities launched this system during a period when protests involving thousands of people were taking place in the capital.
According to official information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 10,000 surveillance cameras have been installed in Georgia to date. For several years now, the authorities have been using cameras from sanctioned Chinese companies. These cameras are manufactured in China, while the software, according to our information, is provided by Russia. We are talking about the companies Hikvision and Dahua. Both companies are under sanctions by the UK, the US, and other democratic nations that oppose total control over citizens and protect them from interference by totalitarian regimes.
In parallel, in our view, Ivanishvili is persecuting Georgian citizens and handing over vital information both to the communist government of China—the camera manufacturer—and to Putin’s Russia, which provides their software support.
We are not making any demands to the prosecutor’s office. Our goal is to warn citizens that their personal data is at risk. We believe that a change of government is necessary to ensure the protection of personal information, human rights, freedom, and the right to free movement,” stated Irakli Kupradze.
