Whether Auckland Transport Cameras are capable of racial profiling against Uyghur muslims.
Andrew Kong made this Official Information request to Auckland Transport
Auckland Transport did not have the information requested.
From: Andrew Kong
Dear Auckland Transport,
Recent media reports show Chinese CCTV camera operator HIK vision promoting the ability of their cameras to identify Uyghur muslims using AI facial recognition technology.
https://ipvm.com/reports/hikvision-uyghur
Auckland Transport has over 1500 HIK vision cameras installed. Are these cameras capable of AI facial recognition of Uyghur muslims?
Has Auckland Transport had internal discussion about purchasing technology from a company openly engaged in facilitating human rights abuses?
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Kong
Auckland
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Dear Andrew,
We acknowledge receipt of your request for official information dated 12
November 2019 regarding racial profiling.
We are processing your request according to the provisions of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. You will receive a
decision within 20 working days after the receipt of your request by
Auckland Transport, as required by the Act. The expected due date for a
decision is 10 December 2019. Please note this is the maximum response
time and we will endeavour to respond to you sooner.
If you have any further queries, please contact us on (09) 355 3553 during
business hours, quoting Local Government Official Information request
number CAS-28977-F2Z1Q8.
Kind regards,
Simran | Customer Care Coordinator
Customer Care – Case Management
Level 4, 20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142
P 09 355 3553 | F 09 355 3550
www.at.govt.nz
show quoted sections
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew
I’ve attached the official information you asked for
On 12/11/2019 you asked for: Information on HIKvision cameras.
I’ve attached a response from Roger Jones, who is our Exec GM Business
Technology.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately,
you are able to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in
accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA Act and seek an investigation
and review in regard to this matter.
You can contact the Ombudsman at [1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[2]www.at.govt.nz
Kia ora Andrew
We've now reviewed the details of your case (case
number CAS-28977-F2Z1Q8 ).
Thanks for getting in touch
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention and working with us to
reach a positive outcome.
We've now closed your case.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[3]www.at.govt.nz
Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
2. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
3. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew
I’ve attached the official information you asked for
On 12/11/2019 you asked for: Information on HIKvision cameras.
I’ve attached a response from Roger Jones, who is our Exec GM Business
Technology.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately,
you are able to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in
accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA Act and seek an investigation
and review in regard to this matter.
You can contact the Ombudsman at [1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[2]www.at.govt.nz
Kia ora Andrew
We've now reviewed the details of your case (case
number CAS-28977-F2Z1Q8 ).
Thanks for getting in touch
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention and working with us to
reach a positive outcome.
We've now closed your case.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[3]www.at.govt.nz
Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
2. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
3. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
From: Andrew Kong
Dear AT Official Information (AT),
" Auckland Transport (AT) does not currently use facial recognition or have any plans to do this. The
library and algorithms that do facial recognition are freely available on open source code
repositories and most analytic systems would have included these in their product. "
I'm not interested in the general capabilities of open source facial recognition systems. I asked specifically whether Auckland Transport HIKvision cameras/analytics systems have inbuilt ability to perform racial profiling against Uyghur muslims, as indicated on HIKvision reference material. Please answer this question.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Kong
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew,
Auckland Transport (AT) acknowledges receipt of your request for official
information dated 30 November 2019 about HIKvision cameras/analytics
systems.
We hope to respond to your request as soon as possible, but not later than
20 January 2020. If we aren’t able to respond to your request by then, we
will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
Your case is being managed by LGOIMA Business Partner Varsha McCoy. If you
have any further queries, you can contact the team on (09) 355 3553 during
business hours, quoting Local Government Official Information request
number CAS-45790-J0N1D5.
Ngā mihi,
Pablo | Customer Care Coordinator
Customer Care – Case Management
Auckland Transport
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142
P 09 355 3553 | E [1][email address] or
[2][email address]
[3]www.at.govt.nz
[4]cid:image008.jpg@01D4DF26.CF144370
[5]cid:image002.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850[6]cid:image003.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850 [7]cid:image004.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850 [8]cid:image005.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850[9]cid:image006.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850
show quoted sections
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew
On 30/11/2019 you asked for: "I'm not interested in the general
capabilities of open source facial recognition systems. I asked
specifically whether Auckland Transport HIKvision cameras/analytics
systems have inbuilt ability to perform racial profiling against Uyghur
muslims, as indicated on HIKvision reference material. Please answer this
question."
Please see below response from Roger Jones, our Exec GM Business
Technology.
Auckland Transport is not aware of any inbuilt facial recognition
capability in our cameras, as previously advised.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately,
you are able to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in
accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA Act and seek an investigation
and review in regard to this matter.
You can contact the Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[1]www.at.govt.nz
Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew
On 30/11/2019 you asked for: "I'm not interested in the general
capabilities of open source facial recognition systems. I asked
specifically whether Auckland Transport HIKvision cameras/analytics
systems have inbuilt ability to perform racial profiling against Uyghur
muslims, as indicated on HIKvision reference material. Please answer this
question."
Please see below response from Roger Jones, our Exec GM Business
Technology.
Auckland Transport is not aware of any inbuilt facial recognition
capability in our cameras, as previously advised.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately,
you are able to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in
accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA Act and seek an investigation
and review in regard to this matter.
You can contact the Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[1]www.at.govt.nz
Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
From: Andrew Kong
Dear AT Official Information (AT),
"Auckland Transport is not aware of any inbuilt facial recognition capability in our cameras, as previously advised. "
Have you contacted HIKVision to ask them, or are you just sticking your head in the sand and pleading ignorance here?
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Kong
From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport
Kia ora Andrew
We are unable to provide you with the information you asked for
On 17/12/2019 you asked for information on HIKVision cameras.
I have received clarification from Roger Jones, who is our our Exec GM
Business Technology. Auckland Transport is not aware of any inbuilt facial
recognition capability in our cameras, as previously advised. Therefore,
your request is refused under section 17 (e) of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings act, as the information does not exist.
You are able to ask the Ombudsman to review how we’ve responded to your
official information request. You can contact the Ombudsman at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Varsha
LGOIMA Business Partner
Auckland Transport
20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
[2]www.at.govt.nz
Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz
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Mr Rodgers left an annotation ()
I think you are reading too much into the IPVM webpage. While HIKvision software may be able to distinguish ethnic Hah and Uyghur people (while in China) I doubt the software would be able to differentiate a Uyghur person from an Afghan person or any other of the peoples from the 'Stans that border the Xinjiang province of China.
A face also does not demonstrate a person's religion. While most of the 'Stans are also exclusively Muslim, 15 % of Kyrgyzstan is Christian.
So how could software distinguish a Uyghur muslim from a Kyrgyzstan Christian?
Link to this