Surveillance cameras can be seen installed everywhere at the United Nations (UN) COP28 climate summit in Dubai and many countries are worried about it.
Many of the cameras belong to a UAE company that has faced spying allegations over their links to a mobile phone app known as ‘spyware’.
It is not yet clear how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) uses the footage collected from its extensive network. But the country has already installed facial recognition systems at the immigration gates of Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel.
Surveillance cameras are increasingly becoming a part of modern life. Experts believe that the number of such cameras per capita in the UAE is the highest compared to any other country around the world.
Joy Shea, a researcher at the human rights watchdog organization Human Rights Watch, said, “We have assumed that at this conference someone is watching, someone is listening.” She and other human rights activists operate under the assumption that it is impossible to have private conversations while attending COP28.
There were also claims that the company could secretly collect genetic material from Americans for the Chinese government. This company is ‘Presite’, a separate branch of Abu Dhabi company G-42, which is supervised by the country’s powerful National Security Advisor.
The company’s more than 12,000 cameras monitor approximately 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 sq mi), which includes Dubai Expo City. Cameras with G42 and Presight logos are also installed above several entrances to the summit’s media center. G42 and Presight, known as Group 42, did not respond to requests for comment.